Miera y Pacheco by John L. Kessell

Description

A true Renaissance Spaniard on the edge of empire. John L. Kessell’s Miera y Pacheco brings to life Don Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (1713–1785): cartographer, religious artist, military engineer, militia captain, merchant, miner, and rancher, whose talents helped shape the Spanish frontier.

Born in Cantabria and trained as a military engineer, Miera emigrated to New Spain and settled in Santa Fe — becoming, in historians’ words, perhaps the most prolific and important cartographer of New Spain. He served as cartographer on the 1776 Domínguez–Escalante expedition, and his 1758 map of New Mexico was so influential that Alexander von Humboldt consulted it in 1803.

Kessell, a leading historian of the Spanish Southwest, traces Miera’s extraordinary journey from soldier-engineer to celebrated santero whose devotional paintings still grace churches and museums. A must-read for lovers of Western history, cartography, and colonial art — the man whose maps quite literally drew New Mexico onto the world stage.

John L. Kessell’s Miera y Pacheco brings to life one of the most remarkable figures of colonial New Mexico. Don Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (1713–1785) was a true Renaissance Spaniard: cartographer, religious artist, military engineer, militia captain, merchant, miner, and rancher, whose talents helped shape the Spanish frontier.
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nBorn in Cantabria, Spain, and trained as a military engineer, Miera emigrated to New Spain and settled in Santa Fe. He became, in the words of historians, perhaps the most prolific and important cartographer of New Spain, producing detailed maps of unexplored territories — including service as cartographer on the 1776 Domínguez–Escalante expedition. His 1758 map of New Mexico was so influential that Alexander von Humboldt consulted it in 1803.
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nKessell, a leading historian of the Spanish Southwest, traces Miera’s extraordinary journey from soldier-engineer to celebrated santero whose devotional paintings and sculptures still grace churches and museums. Drawing on deep archival research, this biography paints a vivid portrait of ambition, faith, and survival on the edge of empire.
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nA must-read for lovers of Western history, cartography, and colonial art, Miera y Pacheco recovers the story of a man whose maps quite literally drew New Mexico onto the world stage.