Pedro Menndez de Avils and the Conquest of Florida

Pedro Menndez de Avils (1519-1574) founded St. Augustine in 1565. His expedition was documented by his brother-in-law, Gonzalo Sols de Mers, 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 Sols de Mers's record was one single manuscript that Eugenio Ruidaz y Caravia transcribed in 1893, and subsequent editions and translations have always followed Ruidaz'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 Menndez de Avils 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.