The De Soto Chronicles

The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America, 1539–1543 is a two volume book collection edited by Lawrence A. Clayton, Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore, published in 1993 by The University of Alabama Press.

Contents

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The book has four historical accounts which describe Hernando de Soto. Volume 1 includes one account each by Luis Hernández de Biedma, Rodrigo Rangel, and a man with the pen name "Gentleman of Elvas".[1] Volume 1 also has a portion of a text by Sebastian de Cañete and a July 9, 1539 letter written by De Soto. John Worth, a professor at the University of Florida, wrote the translations of the works by Biedma and Rangel.[2] The two translations also have notes done by Charles Hudson.[3] The translation of Elvas used was exactly a 1933 one done by James Robertson, with notes and additional information added by John H. Hann,[4] a historian from Florida.[2] The end of volume 1 is a 700-century bibliography, composed by Hudson and Charles Ewen.[4]

Volume 2 is mostly a single work,[4] "La Florida" by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.[1] This version of "La Florida" was the first printing of a translation done by Charmion Shelby, who, while at the Library of Congress, wrote the translation for 13 years.[2]

Other works in the collection include: A 1988 biography of De Soto from Spain,[3] an essay by Clayton,[5] an essay on Garcilaso from Francis G. Crowley, Garcilaso's genealogy of Garci Perez de Vargas, two essays written by Paul Hoffman,[3] an essay by Eugene Lyon,[5] and documents from the General Archive of the Indies. The De Soto biography and the archive documents are translated, with the latter being recent translations.[3]

Reception

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Charles W. Arnade of the University of South Florida wrote that overall the work is "a well done task."[2] Arnade stated that the supplementary items "add to the value of this splendid publication" even though they do not form coherency.[2]

James J. Miller of the Florida Bureau of Archaelogical Research in Tallahassee, Florida, described the work as "the definitive De Soto compilation".[4]

John Jay TePaske of Duke University stated that even non-academic readers would find entertainment value in the books.[6]

William D. Phillips described the work as "handsome".[5]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Arnade, p. 1-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e Arnade, p. 2.
  3. ^ a b c d TePaske, p. 380.
  4. ^ a b c d Miller, p. 443.
  5. ^ a b c Phillips.
  6. ^ TePaske, p. 381.