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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- Arnade, Charles W. "The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539-1543 edited by Lawrence A. Clayton,edited by Lawrence A. Clayton, Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. MooreVernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore". Tampa Bay History. 17 (1): 1–2. - Article 9 - Profile page
- Miller, James J. (1997). "The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America, 1539–1543. Lawrence A. Clayton, Vernon James KnightJr. , and Edward C. Moore, eds. (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1993. Pp. 1176. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $50.00.)". The Americas. 53 (3): 442–443. doi:10.2307/1008036. JSTOR 1008036. S2CID 151412032. - Published online on December 11, 2015.
- Phillips, William D. "The de Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539-1543, 2 vols". Latin American Research Review. 32 (1). Latin American Studies Association.
- TePaske, John Jay (July 1994). "The de Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. 1, Vol. 2 by Lawrence A. Clayton, Vernon James Knight Jr., Edward C. Moore". The North Carolina Historical Review. 71 (3). North Carolina Office of Archives and History: 380–381. JSTOR 23521714. - Also at DeGruyter