C. Hermann Berendt's transcription of approximately 415 vocabulary entries, including numbers, from the book published in 1845 by A. M. Fellechner, Dr. Müller, and C. L. C. Hesse, entitled Bericht über die im höchsten Auftrage Seiner Königl. Hoheit des Prinzen Carl von Preussen und Sr. Durchlaucht des Herrn Fürsten von Schoenburg-Waldenburg bewirkte Untersuchung einiger Teile des Mosquitolandes, erstattet von der dazu ernannten Commission. Whereas in the published book the authors give the Miskito word followed by the German equivalent, Berendt's list presents only Spanish equivalents and not the German, except for a few instances in which he notes the German equivalent in pencil. In addition to the vocabulary list found on pages 269-274, his transcription includes the following material from the same work: 1) a list covering numbers from 1 to 1000 (p. 20-21; Fellechner, p. 250-252); 2) a list of supplemental vocabulary entries (p. 22-24) that Berendt extracted from the pages describing the grammar of the language (Fellechner, p. 241-268); and 3) a song, or poem, in Miskito (p. 25) which the authors of the book attribute to Ben, son of Pablo, of Cape Gracias a Dios, Honduras (Fellechner, p. 268). In the book, the poem is given with a German translation, which Berendt omits, giving his own Spanish translation instead. Two notes in red ink (p. 6, 8) are apparently cross-references to Alexander Henderson's Grammar of the Mosquito language; Berendt's copy of that work is in the Rare Book Collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania. One footnote added by Berendt (p. 8), concerning the Miskito for iguana, refers to Thomas Young's book Narrative of a residence on the Mosquito shore; for Berendt's transcription of Miskito vocabulary from that work, see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 130.
Language:
Spanish; Castilian; Central American Indian languages; German
Provenance:
From the collection of C. Hermann Berendt, later acquired by Daniel Garrison Brinton (ex libris stamp on the verso of front free endpaper in the bound volume that once contained the present item).; Berendt, C. Hermann (Carl Hermann), 1817-1878, former owner.; Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison), 1837-1899, former owner.
Ms. codex.; Title from title page (p. 1).; This was the third of 19 manuscripts formerly bound together, probably by Daniel Garrison Brinton, and now disbound (Items 129-136, 143, 145, 146, 151-155, and 157-159). The bound volume had the spine title: Languages of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.; Pagination: Paper, ii + 13 + iii; [1-3], 4-25, [26 (blank)]; contemporary pagination in ink, upper outer corners.; Layout: Written in 2 columns of 20 lines with Spanish on the left and Miskito on the right, except for one poem written in long lines (p. 25).; Script: Written in the hand of C. Hermann Berendt.; Binding: Contemporary paper covers; sewn. Gatherings are detached or nearly detached from each other.; Origin: Written sometime between the beginning of C. Hermann Berendt's research in the Americas in 1851 and his death in 1878.; Spanish and Miskito, with a few notes in German.
Physical Location:
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, Ms. Coll. 700 Item 131
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