Pre-1600: Americas: The People: Publications

Charles E. Bennet, Laudonnière & Fort Caroline: History and Documents (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1964)—in addition to a brief history of Fort Caroline by the author, the book consists of René de Laudonnière’s journal, which describes his relations with Saturnia as well as various depositions given by certain colonists that reflect the bitter divisions and conflicts that debilitated the colony;

Henry S. Burrage, ed., Early English and French Voyages Chiefly from Hakluyt, 1534–1608 (New York: Scribners, 1906)—this collection of narratives from various voyages of discovery includes reports of Jacques Cartier’s voyages and exploration of the St. Lawrence River, records of Humphrey Gilbert’s and Arthur Barlowe’s voyages, and accounts of the two Roanoke colonies by Ralph Lane and John White;

Lawrence A. Clayton, Vernon James Knight Jr., and Edward C. Moore, eds., The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539–1543, 2 volumes (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1993)—brings together the narratives of de Soto’s expedition written by the Gentleman of Elvas, Luys Hernandez de Biedma, Rodrigo Rangel, and Garcilaso de la Vega, which present not only the first historic glimpse of the Mississippians of the southern interior but also conflicting accounts of the same events witnessed by the various authors;

Christopher Columbus, The Diario of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage to America, 1492–1493 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989)—includes entries from Columbus’s journal that describe the ocean voyage and relations with and among the crew, as well as detailed accounts of his encounters with various islands and Indians of the Caribbean;

Thomas Harriot, A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia: The Complete 1590 Theodor de Bry Edition (New York: Dover, 1972)—a published account of observations made by Harriot during the brief tenure of Ralph Lane’s colony that outlines both the resources that colonists could exploit as well as the lifeways of the Indians who lived on and around Roanoke Island;

Bartholomé de Las Casas, In Defense of the Indians, translated and edited by Stafford Poole (De Kalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1992)—Las Casas was a Dominican priest who believed, unlike many of his contemporaries, that Indians were human beings. Written between 1548 and 1550, the Defense cites incidences of abuse, murder, and exploitation by Spanish colonists and officials and argues for a humane policy toward the Crown’s native subjects;

Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Castaways: The Narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, edited by Enrique Pupo-Walker, translated by Frances M. López-Morillas (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993)—a translation of Cabeza de Vaca’s original Relación, which tells of his experiences as an explorer, slave, trader, and healer among several native groups in the American Southwest and justifies his actions;

André Thevet, André Thevet’s North America: A Sixteenth-Century View, edited by Roger Schlesinger and Arthur P. Stabler (Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1986)—Thevet was the Royal Cosmographer of France, and the book includes translations of his writings on the exploration and discovery of North America with an emphasis on Canada, Florida, and Mexico;

The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America (London: Penguin, 1965)—includes translations of the two sagas “Graenlandinga Saga” and “Eirik’s Saga,” which discuss the politics and motivations behind the various attempts to settle Vinland and include fairly detailed descriptions of the Indians the Vikings encountered.