Lima por dentro y fuera (1838) by Simon Ayanque

  • Publisher Reprinted in Lima: Tadeo Lopez
  • Year 1838

Book recommended by Agnes Gehbald.

The book ‘Lima por dentro y fuera’ (Lima Inside and Out), which offers a satirical perspective on the Peruvian colonial capital, must have made entertaining reading at the end of the 18th century – and we may still laugh when reading it. Depicting the city’s vices, the book deliberately inverts the traditions of literature, transforming the usual ‘laudes urbium’ into a dire warning. The author’s real name is not Simon Ayanque but Esteban Terralla y Landa. Published in Lima in 1797, and in Madrid in 1798, different editions followed, although the authorities had tried to ban the book.

This book can be read online here.

This book is part of Books and the city Symposium which took place in Maastricht, the Netherlands, from 22–24 June 2016. Organised by Maastricht University, NL, the Van Eyck Academie, NL, and the University of Canterbury, NZ.

Image Source

Books and the City Symposium