Herrera y Tordesillas, Antonio de, 1559-1625.; Stevens, John, -1726 tr.
1725-26
UF Special & Area Studies Collections Florida History (Non-Circulating) (F.02 H565hEs)
Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1549-1625)
The general history of the vast continent and islands of America, commonly call'd the West-Indies ... v. IV / by Antonio de Herrera ; translated into English by Capt. John Stevens. 1726
Published between 1725 and 1726, The General History of the Vast Continent and Islands of America is the first English translation of Antonio Herrera y Tordesillas’s important chronicle Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del Mar Océano (1601-15), otherwise known as the Décadas. The work provides an atlas and history of the Americas during the Spanish conquest, detailing important geographical features and the names of significant places on the continent. The work contained information taken from earlier chronicles, naval logs and manuals, some of which are now lost.
The English translation was made by John Stevens, the son of a page of the backstairs to Catherine of Braganza, consort of Charles II. According to his own accounts, Stevens could speak Spanish from a young age, indicating that his mother may have come from Spain (his father had also served Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon in Madrid). Educated at Douai, Stevens served in the army during the reign of James II, first against the Duke of Monmouth in 1685 and later in Ireland. Following the ‘Glorious’ Revolution of 1688, he lost his commissions and fled to France. He later joined Jacobite forces in Ireland and after William III’s capture of Limerick in 1691, Stevens travelled to Portugal, joining his brother in the service of Catherine of Braganza on her return to Lisbon the following year.
By 1695, Stevens was back in London working as a translator of Spanish and Portuguese. While not a lucrative career, he was able to spend the remainder of his life publishing translations of Spanish and Portuguese literature (including works such as those of Tordesillas and a popular translation of Don Quixote) and writing his own histories of Spain and Portugal.
King Geoge III had a copy of this work in his library at Windsor – Source: Royal Collection Trust
Online Editon at Internet Archive:
Roberts, William, active 1763, author.; Jefferys, Thomas, -1771, cartographer, bookseller.; Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress)
MDCCLXIII 1763
UF Special & Area Studies Collections Florida History (Non-Circulating) 1 (F.02 R648a1)
William Robert's Account of the First Discovery of Florida was written in the aftermath of the French and Indian War (Seven Years war) and the resulting Treaty of Paris of 1763. Britain had captured Cuba in the conflict and traded it back to Spain for the largely unknown Spanish domains of Florida. Contemporary Englishmen were largely critical of the exchange, and many, including William Pitt argued that the wealthier West Indian islands would be more advantageous for Britain. After the treaty, Spain evacuated its citizens and proselytized-Indian peoples and Britain was left with a largely unknown, unpopulated territory of swamps, unfriendly Indians, and "pestiferous sea coats." The English attempted to open the new lands for colonization and divided its territory into East and West Florida to remove the west-ward expansionistic pressure with the Indian nations west of the Alleghanys and keep British subjects under the reach of royal authority. It is in this context that English propagandists wrote about Florida, promoting settlement, advocating its resources, warm climate, fertile soil, and potential for wealth. Roberts work "included geographical descriptions, the history of European discovery and exploration, and also several of Thomas Jeffreys' excellent maps of St. Augustine, Pensacola, and the entire peninsular colony. Roberts' book became the first sound and dependable source of facts readily found in Great Britain, and for several years, ... it was the only instructive account available to potential settlers and land speculators." - Robert L. Gold, "An account of the first discovery, and natural history of Florida," Introduction, xvi-xvii p., 1976.
Source: Sequitur Rare Books
Online Flip-Book in Florida State University Collections
https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A4638#page/10/mode/2up
Coxe, Daniel, 1673-1739.
1741 (first published 1722). With large fold-out map.
UF Special & Area Studies Collections Florida History (Non-Circulating) (F.02 C879)
This is one of the first English works to describe the American Southeast in any detail. Colonel Coxe laid claim to an enormous amount of land in the South thanks to grants made to his father Dr. Daniel Coxe. The colonel published this work in 1722 following travels in North America. He hoped to further his family's land claims, but also sought to raise awareness of the outsize potential of the area and the dangers posed by French incursions. Besides the Carolinas he discussed the lower Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. Much of the information, gathered from British hunters and explorers, is published here for the first time. The map, drawn up by the Coxe Family to illustrate their claims, is also the first English depiction of the Mississippi Valley. It extends as far north as the Great Lakes and includes an inset of the Mississippi Delta at the lower right: "A Map of the Mouth of the River Meschacebe." – Source: Donald A. Heald Rare Books
1722 Online Edition, Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/item/01008667/
1722 Flip-Book Version, Internet Archive
R. B., approximately 1632-approximately 1725.; Hitch, Charles, -1764, bookseller.; Hawes, Lacy, bookseller.; Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928 former owner.; C. Hitch and L. Hawes (Firm), bookseller.; S. Crowder and Co., bookseller.; Odd Fellows' Library Association (San Francisco, Calif.), former owner.
1762
UF Special & Area Studies Collections Florida History (Non-Circulating) 1 (F.02 C952el6)
The English Hero; or, Sir Francis Drake, reviv'd. was first published in 1681 by Nathaniel Crouch, updating The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (Drake’s nephew) written in 1625 in an attempt to revive his reputation and status. - British Library
Nathaniel Crouch (c. 1632-c. 1725)
The English Hero : or, Sir Francis Drake reviv'd / by R.B. [Robert Burton]. 1719
This book contains Sir Francis Drake’s (1588-1637) Sir Francis Drake Revived (first printed 1626), which covered the life an exploits of Drake's uncle and namesake Sir Francis Drake (1540-96). The younger Drake wrote these works to extol the life of his uncle during a period of heightened tension with Spain in order to encourage ‘this dull or effeminate age’ to follow the model of the elder Drake and to support calls for further privateering against Spanish ships.
Due to books such as this that helped to establish him as a national hero, Sir Francis Drake came to be seen as a figure responsible for establishing England on an international stage and ushering in what would become the British Empire. However, his actions in the Caribbean and his involvement in beginning English participation in the transatlantic slave trade have in recent years resulted in the questioning of his legacy.
Printed under the pseudonym 'Robert Burton', this book was one of the many texts printed and sold by Nathaniel Crouch. Little is known of Crouch's life but it appears that he was a shrewd businessman, stocking a huge variety of cheap and popular books on various historical subjects, which ranged from recent history and biographies to sensationalist literature on witchcraft and supernatural phenomena. Though this type of book was denounced by authors such as Alexander Pope for their populist nature and their use of many different sources, they were reprinted many times throughout the eighteenth century. This edition was printed in 1719, part of the founding collection of the present Royal Library.
Source: Royal Collection Trust
Online 1695 edition, Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/item/03013281/
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