The translation of chapter I of the work Noticias auténticas del famoso río Marañón (c. 1738), by Father Pablo Maroni, and its relevance for colonial memory and Amazon studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2026.e114851Keywords:
Colonial Amazon, Fr. Pablo Maroni, Translation, Jesuit Chronicle, MarañónAbstract
This paper presents in short form some considerations regarding the process of translation and analysis of chapter I of the first part of the historical diary Noticias auténticas del famoso río Marañón y Misión Apostólica de la Compañía de Jesús de la Provincia de Quito en los dilatados bosques de dicho río, written by the missionary Father Pablo Maroni in the late 1730s while he was a missionary in the Spanish Province of Quitos. The historical and political scenarios for the Jesuit presence in the Amazon during that period are also introduced and contextualized. At the end of the translation of the chapter, which is rich in details about the Marañón River region, both the Spanish region and the portion occupied by the Portuguese (Amazon river), we are introduced to aspects of the economic, social and political life of the populations of that region. We consulted the original text in different editions, in order to present a text in Spanish and Portuguese that is as accurate as possible, paying special attention to the vocabulary of the time. We hope that the bilingual edition of this chapter will contribute to a greater understanding of the still little-known first part of this exceptional work of great value for the history of Colonial Amazon.
References
Bombardi, F. A. (2024). Redes indígenas e missionárias: descimentos carmelitas e reduções jesuíticas entre Omáguas, Yurimáguas, Aysuares e Manas (1686-1757). [Tese de Doutorado]. Universidade de São Paulo. https://repositorio.usp.br/item/003213358
Castelo, H. R. (2022). Biografía de Pablo Maroni. Real Academia de la Historia. https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/20615/pablo-maroni
Chaumeil, J. P. (Ed.), Maroni, P. (1988 [c. 1738]). Noticias auténticas del famoso río Marañón – seguidas de Las relaciones de los P.P.A. de Zárate y J. Magnin (Edición crítica, vol. 4, serie B, Projecto Monumenta Amazonia). IIAP-CETA.
Huonder, A. (1913). Paul Maroni. In C. G. Herbermann, E. A. Pace, C. B. Pallen, T. J. Shahan & J. Wynne (Eds.), The Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. IX, p. 683). The Encyclopedia Press.
La Condamine, C.-M. (174-?). Carte du cours du Maragnon ou de la Grande Riviere de Amazones. Biblioteca Digital Luso-Brasileira. https://bdlb.bn.gov.br/acervo/handle/20.500.12156.3/14165
Maldonado Flores, P. V. (1750). Carta de la Provincia de Quito y de sus adjacentes. Biblioteca Digital Real Academia de la Historia. https://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/es/consulta/registro.do?id=61265
Maroni, P. (c. 1738). Capítulo Primero. In M. J. De La Espada (Org.). (1889/1892). Noticias Auténticas del Famoso Río Marañón y Misión Apostólica de la Compañía de Jesús de la Provincia de Quito en los dilatados bosques de dicho río – Escribíalas por los años de 1738 un Misionero de la misma Compañía y las publica ahora por primera vez Marcos Jiménez De La Espada. Establecimiento Tipográfico de Fortanet; Boletín de la Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid.
Medeiros, S. L., Santos, T. L. P., & Costa, W. C. (2020). Un voyage à travers les idées en Amazonie au XVIIIe siècle: La Condamine, tradução e cultura. Cadernos de Tradução, 40(2), 16–37. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2020v40n2p16
Rabelo, L. M. (2020). A Invenção do Rio Amazonas na Cartografia (1540-1560). Terra Brasilis, (14), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.4000/terrabrasilis.7443
Rosa, A. C. (2019). Gathering Souls: Jesuit Missions and Missionaries in Oceania (1668–1945). Brill.
Santos, R. F. (2017). A experiência dos jesuítas das Missões de Maynas e a consolidação da presença territorial missionária nas fronteiras no Marañón (1638-1767). Acta Académica. https://cdsa.aacademica.org/000-019/144
Santos, R. F. (2021). Os jesuítas no Marañón: Pablo Maroni e sua proposta para o desenvolvimento das Missões de Maynas. Anos 90, 28, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.22456/1983-201X.99513
Suárez, F. G. (1903). Historia General de la Republica del Ecuador (Tomo Séptimo). Imprenta del Clero.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Cadernos de Tradução

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors hold the copyright and grant the journal the right for their articles' first publication, being their works simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which allows the sharing of such works with its authorship acknowledged and its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are allowed to enter into separate additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or as a book chapter, with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal).


















































