Both of these works are praiseworthy from the academic point of view since they are products of careful research and represent the able presentation of new and useful data. They are an outgrowth of a renewed interest since the late 1950’s in the history of St. Augustine, stimulated by the St. Augustine Historical Society and by the coming of the Stetson Collection (photostats of nearly all Spanish documents at Seville dealing with Florida) to the University of Florida. The establishment several years ago of a State Restoration Commission was another result which, in turn, stimulated this kind of publication.
The Manucy book is all encompassing and is true to its title. The research is adequate but could have been better. Manucy’s merit lies in the craftsmanship of his illustrations. He is more of a draftsman—and at that, excellent—than a historian. The chapter “Design and Materials” runs from pages 48 to 133, and is superb.
The second monograph is much narrower in scope but is done by seven people, four of whom are trained scholars. It is under no circumstance a tourist publication. It is a most interesting work, showing, with the help of historical and archaeological research, the historical evolution of a single house. Professor Hale Smith, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Florida State University, is the guiding force of the work. Although very technical, it shows how minute historical research can be made.
Needless to say, much of the subject matter of these monographs deals with the Spanish period of Florida history, and they represent valuable additions to the bibliography of Spanish Florida. Although St. Augustine was a poor town—with poor architecture—it probably now has the best-researched architectural history in the vast Spanish Empire. The example is there for other towns of Latin America and the Borderlands.
