José Toribio Medina Zavala (; October 21, 1852 - December 11, 1930) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

, prolific writer, and historian. He is renowned for his study of colonial literature in Chile, printing in Spanish America and large bibliographies such as the ''Biblioteca Hispano-Americana.'' (7 Vol., 1898-1907.)

Biography

Jose Toribio Medina was born in Santiago, Chile. He was the eldest son of José del Pilar Medina y Valderrama and Mariana Zavala y Almeida, a woman of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent."Jose Toribio Medina." ''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. Vol. 24. Detroit: Gale, 2005. ''Biography in Context''. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. His father was a lawyer, and he was constantly traveling due to his position as a magistrate. For this reason, Medina spent his childhood in different cities like Santiago, Talca, and Valparaiso. At the age of thirteen, he returned to Santiago to support his father who had lost the use of his legs. Later on, Medina joined the

Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, often shortened to Instituto Nacional (National Institute), is a public boys' school in downtown Santiago, Chile which teaches 4.400 students between 7th and 12th grade. 170 teachers are employed ...

under the direction of the great historian

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History of ...

. Then he studied law at the University of Chile, graduating as a lawyer on March 26, 1873. His first publication, when a very young man, was a metrical translation of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

's ''

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during t ...

''. At twenty-two he was appointed the secretary to the legation at

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, Peru. After his return, he published a history of

Chilean literature Chilean literature refers to all written or literary work produced in Chile or by Chilean writers. The literature of Chile is usually written in Spanish. Chile has a rich literary tradition and has been home to two Nobel prize winners, the poets ...

(1878), and a work upon the aboriginal tribes (1884). In 1879, he contributed to Chile's war effort against Peru and Bolivia with the invention of an improved manufacturing method of cartridges. He was appointed military judge of Tarapacá in 1880 as a result of his efforts. In this latter year, he was appointed the secretary of legation in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and availed himself of the opportunity of examining the treasures of the old Spanish libraries. These researches, repeated on subsequent visits to Spain, and also to

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and

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, enriched him with a mass of historical and bibliographical material. Among his publications may be mentioned the '' Biblioteca hispano-americana'', a remarkable catalogue of unedited documents relating to the Spanish discovery and colonization of Chile, including a number of articles from Martín Fernández de Navarette. Volumes II and III of this collection focus on Ferdinand Magellan, from where the recorded history of Chile starts; the '' Biblioteca hispano-chilena'', a similar work, commenced in 1897; the standard and magnificent history of printing in the La Plata countries (1892); comprehensive works on the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

in Chile,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and the

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; and the standard treatise on South American medals (1899). Prior to his death, he offered his personal library collection to the

National Library of Chile The National Library of Chile () is the national library of Chile. It is located on the Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins in Santiago, Chile, Santiago, in a building completed in 1925, though its history reaches to the early nineteent ...

(Biblioteca Nacional de Chile), which contained 30,000 rare books and 500 volumes of documents dated prior to the independence of Latin American nations.

Exhaustive study of Magellan

In 1920, the Chilean historian published a comprehensive study of Magellan containing an impressive amount of biographical information, a detailed analysis of the beginning and development of the voyage of circumnavigation, and a remarkable amount of information on the crews of the ''Armada de Molucca''. This contained a priceless list of documentary sources and an outstanding bibliography. The title of this work is ''El Descubrimiento del Oceano Pacifico: Vasco Nuñez, Balboa, Hernando de Magallanes y Sus Compañeros''. In the words of Tim Joyner, "Any serious study of Magellan and his enterprise must include this informative product of Medina's exhaustive archival research." In addition, Medina produced the fullest bibliographies yet attainable of books printed at Lima, Mexico and Manila, and a number of memoirs and other minor writings. Bealer, Lewis W. “José Toribio Medina. His Life and Works.” ''Hispanic American Historical Review''. Duke University Press, 1941:646-647. No other man had rendered anything like the same amount of service to the literary history and bibliography of the Spanish colonies. Medina was designated "Humanist of the Americas" by members of the

Pan American Union The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

Additional works

He was recognized as the author, editor, and translator of approximately 282 titles (books, pamphlets, and articles). If additional works like re-editions, sections of books, pre-prints and re-prints of complete or partial works, as well posthumous studies, are included, the total number of publications exceeds 350. Some of his published books from 1882 to 1927 consist of: *

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...

: Los Aborigenes de Chile. Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Gutenberg. *

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl ...

: Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la inquisición de Lima (1569-1820). Santiago

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:_La_imprenta_en_La_Habana_(1707-1810)._Santiago_de_Chile:_Imprenta_Elzeviriana. *_

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Biography

Exhaustive study of Magellan

Additional works

See also

References

External links