The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 314
562 p. : ill. (some col.), ports., maps (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
in the golden mold of sixteenth-century Spain, we sought to acquaint
ourselves adequately with the man and his environment, and to in-
terpret his story as we feel it should be interpreted-in the light of
the age which produced it.
The mechanical execution of The Florida, a notable debut for
the University of Texas Press, measures up to the merit of the
content. The unique binding, the fine India bond, the quaint
decorative devices at the beginning and conclusion of each book
and chapter, the etching of De Soto which forms the frontispiece
-all blend harmoniously to exude the mystery and grandeur of
a bygone age. Finally, the proofreading is superb, relegating to
pettiness any mention of the exceedingly rare typographical slips
and occasional inconsistencies in use of accents or the spelling of
proper names.
To point out a few matters may appear sacrilegious for a work
of this magnitude and standard, but those which follow are more
in the nature of preference arising from a historian's prejudice
than adverse criticisms. A formal bibliography for the works
cited in the annotations and used in the succinct introduction to
Garcilaso's life and work would have been a welcome addition;
and furthermore, it would have limited the bibliographical im-
pedimenta in the annotations. It is also regrettable that the trans-
lators did not elaborate on Gonzalo Silvestre in their introduc-
tion, especially since he was believed to have been the Inca's
principal source of information.
Garcilaso's Florida, in its original Spanish, is a great literary
and historical masterpiece-an absorbing adventure in the ranks
of De Soto's army with an imaginative mind of the sixteenth
century as a guide. It is no less great in the present English trans-
lation. The cult of reviewing grants the prerogative of personal
evaluation; but if it holds as a cardinal dogma that adverse criti-
cism is a requirement, this reviewer glady joins the ranks of the
heretics to give an unqualified endorsement of the Varners' ac-
complishment. Truly a "fabulous story" and a "fabulous" literary
contribution.
FRANK A. KNAPP, JR.314
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952, periodical, 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101139/m1/364/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.