Continuing with its work of preserving and enhancing the country’s documentary heritage, the National Library of Peru (BNP) makes the “History of Peru” collection available to all Peruvians.
This is a 5-volume publication made from the 13 handwritten volumes preserved by the BNP that were written by Juan Basilio Cortegana from Cajamarca, where he narrates the history of our country from the eyes of a soldier who witnessed the feat he achieved our independence.
This long-awaited publication, which consists of 5 volumes, will be presented this Thursday, March 9, starting at 7:00 pm, at the Cultural Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). In addition, it will be available to everyone free of charge, through This thanks to the strategic alliance between the BNP and the BBVA Foundation, who join efforts to spread culture and bring knowledge closer.
Cortegana was part of the patriot ranks and was present at the Battle of Ayacucho on December 9, 1824. It should be noted that these manuscripts, written between 1848 and 1877, were declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation by the Ministry of Culture in 2021 .
For this publication, the BNP also provided researchers, digitalization of the material and managed the support of the Special Bicentennial Project of the Ministry of Culture, for the transcription of the manuscript.
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The editorial direction was in charge of the historian Carmen McEvoy and the writer Marcel Velázquez, who coordinated a team of researchers who carried out the preliminary studies and orthotypographic normalization.
In this way, the BNP truly values works that it preserves in its historical heritage and that deserve to be recognized.
Who was Cortegana?
Juan Basilio Cortegana was born in 1801, in Celendín (Cajamarca). During the fight for independence he enlisted in the patriotic troops, obtaining the rank of captain. After the death of his wife Manonga Arnaiz he decided to write his monumental “History of Peru”. In 1868 he was deputy for Cajamarca and managed to get Celendín to be recognized as a province.
Broken in his health, he dedicated himself totally to the conclusion of his work, which, unfortunately, was ignored, unknown and taken abroad (Argentina), to later return to the BNP in 1945. He died on December 11, 1877.
ANDEAN