The First Pineapple Illustration

The first illustration of a pineapple in the New World appeared in 1535 in the 19-volume La Historia general de las Indias by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés.

“Gonzalo Oviedo sailed in 1514 on the first of his many journeys to America, where he compiled detailed descriptions and woodcut illustrations of products and goods found in the New World. The Spaniard introduced Europe to an enormous variety of previously unheard of ‘exotica,’ including the pineapple, the canoe, smoking tobacco, the manatee, and the hammock. Along with Pedro Mértir de Anglería and Bartolomé de Las Casas, Oviedo was one of the first European ‘chroniclers of the Indies’ having written two comprehensive works on America, including the rare Historia.”

American Treasures of the Library of Congress