Potosi and the World (1550-1850): New Approaches (Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries)

Silver from Latin America and especially from Potosí is at the origin of one of the first waves of globalization. South America contributed between 1493 and 1800 supplied 85% of the world’s silver. The main goal of this book is to offer for English-language readers a comprehensive volume on Potosí and the wider world. This is realized with the collaboration of a select group of twelve scholars from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, France, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all of them at the cutting-edge of research on Potosí. The book has a broad introduction of the Editors of the volume. The contributions are organized in three parts: the first one explores the origin of the exploitation and how silver production was conceived and described; the second part analyzes the organization of labour for almost 300 years and the third part examines the flow of silver to Europe and Asia.