Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Conquest of Florida: A New Manuscript

The most authoritative edition of Gonzalo Sol s de Mer s s rare eye-witness account of Pedro Men ndez de Avil s s 1565 expedition to Florida, one of the earliest and most valuable accounts written about any region in the United States. J. Michael Francis, author of Invading Colombia: Spanish Accounts of the Gonzalo Jim nez de Quesada Expedition of Conquest

An invaluable source for scholars and aficionados of La Florida alike. The history reads like a novel, and with its careful presentation, we now have a reliable source to a key chapter in early American history and literature. Thomas Hallock, coeditor of William Bartram, The Search for Nature's Design: Selected Art, Letters, and Unpublished Writings

Pedro Men ndez de Avil s (1519 1574) founded St. Augustine in 1565. His expedition was documented by his brother-in-law, Gonzalo Sol s de Mer s, who left a detailed and passionate account of the events leading to the establishment of America s oldest city.

Until recently, the only extant version of Sol s de Mer s s record was one single manuscript that Eugenio Ruid az y Caravia transcribed in 1893, and subsequent editions and translations have always followed Ruid az s text. In 2012, David Arbes discovered a more complete record: a manuscript including folios lost for centuries and, more important, excluding portions of the 1893 publication based on retellings rather than the original document.

In the resulting volume, Pedro Men ndez de Avil s and the Conquest of Florida, Arbes sheds light on principal events missing from the story of St. Augustine s founding. By consulting the original chronicle, Arbes provides readers with the definitive bilingual edition of this seminal text.