First published by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material. In partnership with Ashgate, and using print-on-demand and e-book technology, the Society has made re-available all 290 volumes comprised in Series I and Series II of its publications in both print and digital editions. For information about the Hakluyt Society visit www.hakluvt. com.
ISBN 13: 978-1-4094-1275-5 (hbk)
The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida, by Don Ferdinando de Soto
And six hundred Spaniards his Followers, written by a Gentleman of Elvas, employed in all the Action, and translated out of Portuguese, by Richard Hakluyt
Edited by
WILLIAM B. RYE
REPORT FOR 1850.
THE Council of the HAKLUYT SOCIETY have pleasure in being able to congratulate its Members on the increased prosperity of the Society during the past year, and on the hopes they feel justified in entertaining of continued success.
In spite of the difficulties and drawbacks with which, in the first years of its existence, the Society had to contend, it has now attained to a number of Subscribers greater than that which it at first proposed to itself as a maximum. The number of Members has increased, since the last Report, from 276 to 316.
It has been an anxious desire of the Council to establish Agencies in the various great cities of the kingdom, for the purpose, not merely of making the Society more generally known, but of saving expense by the more economical distribution of the works that are published. This has been effected in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Plymouth, Oxford, and St. Heliers, Jersey.
The Members of the Society will have been gratified by observing that the Societys productions have hitherto been invariably received with approval and commendation ;at least, such has been the experience of the Counciljudging, not only from the reviews of the public press, but from the expressions of private criticism.
In the course of the past year a work of great interest, entitled Memorials of the Empire of Japon in the sixteenth and seventeenth Centuries, edited by Mr. Rundall, has been delivered to the Subscribers of 1850. This curious collection of documents, derived from the British Museum and East India House, to which the Editor has added a most valuable and interesting series of illustrative notes, has led to enquiries from many who were otherwise not anxious to belong to the Society.
At the close of 1850, Hakluyts Divers Voyages touching the discovery of America and the Islands adjacent to the same, was delivered, as promised in the Councils last Report, to the Subscribers of 1849. This rare volume, the first of Hakluyts productions, was looked forward to with the greatest interest, as naturally adapted to take the lead among the Societys productions. The expectation of the Council has not been disappointed, and the various research and labour, which the editing of the Divers Voyages must unavoidably have entailed upon its Editor, Mr. Winter Jones, presents, they think, a satisfactory reason for the lateness of its appearance, particularly when it is remembered that Mr. Rich had not abandoned his idea of publishing it till the commencement of 1850.
It had been the confident hope of the Council, that the work upon which Mr. Bolton Corney is engaged, viz., The East India Voyage of Sir Henry Middleton in 16045, would have been ready for distribution to the Members in the Autumn of 1850. Many causes, however, have, to their great disappointment, prevented the completion of this work. Among these, not the least, have been the state of Mr. Corneys health, and the change of premises of the Societys printer, Mr. Richards. In this change was involved the breaking up of type which Mr. Corney was not prepared to order for press, and hence inconvenience has arisen.
Meanwhile, however, another work is in the printers hands, under the editorial care of Mr. W. B. Rye, to which, in order to remedy in some degree the delay already referred to, he has kindly consented to give his unremitting attention, and the Council have little doubt of its very early appearance.
The title of this work is as follows. The worthy and famous historie of the travailes, discovery, and conquest of that great continent of Terra Florida, being lively paraleld with that of our now inhabited Virginia. London, 1611. 4. This title, which is comparatively scarce, was supplied by Hakluyt, (who translated it from the Portuguese) in place of the better known one of Virginia richly valued by the description of the maine land of Florida her next neighbour. The narrative, which it contains, of the foure yeares continuall travell and discoverie, for above one thousand miles, east and west, of Don Ferdinando de Soto and sixe hundred able men in his companie, is full of stirring interest.
The other works in course of preparation are :
THE WORLD ENCOMPASSED BY SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, 157780. Written by Francis Fletcher, preacher, &c. Collated with a MS. by the same hand in the British Museum, containing additional unpublished details. To be edited by W. Sandys Vaux, Esq., M.A. This work will be illustrated with a copy of a very valuable unique Map in the British Museum showing the tracks of Drake and Candish.
RERUM MOSCOVITICARUM COMMENTARII. The earliest account of Russia, by Sigismund von Herberstein. To be translated, from the rare editions of 1549 and 1556, by R. H. Major, Esq.
A COLLECTION OF EARLY DOCUMENTS, to form a Supplement to the Narrative of Voyages towards the North West, by T. Rundall, Esq.
VARTHEMA. The Travels of Ludovico de Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, in 15038. To be translated, from the Italian text of 1510, by W. Desborough Cooley, Esq.
The translation of De Morgas SUCESOS EN LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS has also been undertaken.
Hence it will be manifest that the Council can unreservedly congratulate its Members, not only upon the present state of the Society, but also upon the fair prospect of a prosperous future.
The following six Members retire from the Council :
JOHN HOLMES, ESQ.
THE LORD ALFRED S. CHURCHILL.
J. WINTER JONES, ESQ.
THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF ST. PAULS.
THE RT. HON. THE LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTLAND.
