The Columbian Quincentenary has stimulated much in the way of historical and archaeological research into the Spanish colonial period of the Americas. Works on Columbus alone account for more popular and scholarly books, articles, movies, and television documentaries than there are years since the Spaniards arrived in the New World. The serious scholar may find it time-consuming to separate the wheat from the chaff in this expanding field. Hence the need for Garland Publishing’s Spanish Borderlands Sourcebooks series.
The sourcebooks, of which the Menéndez volume is the 24th in a series of 27, cover an array of Spanish colonial topics, from Spanish-Indian contact in the Southeastern United States to the establishment of missions in Baja California. The series is intended to provide the groundwork for serious research on these selected topics. Its editors are acknowledged leaders in their fields and are conversant with the past, present, and future trends in their areas.
The purpose of the sourcebook concerning Pedro Menéndez de Avilés is, according to its editor, Eugene Lyon, “to enlarge our knowledge of this remarkable sixteenth-century man.” The book begins with a well-written introduction that chronicles the life of the first true governor of La Florida. Following this biographical synopsis is a collection of more than 80 pertinent original documents and articles. The book is organized into seven parts: “The Man from Asturias,” “Preparation for the Florida Conquest,” “Events of the Florida Conquest,” “Spanish Florida Outreach,” “Spanish-Native American Contact in Florida,” “Settlement in Pedro Menéndez’ Spanish Florida,” and “Death of Menéndez and Its Aftermath.”
It would be difficult to find an individual more qualified than Eugene Lyon to discuss the beginnings of the Florida colony. Lyon has conducted extensive research in the Archivo General de Indias in Spain, as well as in many other regional archives. He has also worked closely with other historians and archaeologists conducting research in this area. The result of Lyon’s expertise is a mandatory reference concerning Pedro Menéndez that should be the first stop on a scholar’s study of the man or his deeds.
This book, like the other sourcebooks, could have benefited from some additional editing. The variety of typefaces is a minor but annoying detail. On a more substantive note, each of the sections needs a brief introduction summarizing the articles and their importance. Some notable archaeological studies are dated, or are not included at all (for example, Charles Hudson’s Juan Pardo Expeditions, 1990). These quibbles aside, a reference as useful as this should find its way into the libraries of all scholars of this period.