La Florida del Ynca. Historia del adelantado Hernando de Soto, Gouernador y capitan general del Reyno de la Florida, y de otros heroicos caualleros Españoles è Indios; escrita por el Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega, capitan de su Magestad, natural de la gran ciudad del Cozco, cabeça de los Reynos y prouincias del Peru. Dirigida al serenissimo Principe, Duque de Bragança. &c. Con licencia de la santa Inquisicion.

Lisbon, Impresso por Pedro Crasbeeck, 1605.. FIRST EDITION. 4° in 8s, contemporary calf (almost pristine, with only the slightest wear), spine gilt with raised bands in five compartments, short title gilt in second compartment from head, covers elaborately decorated in blind, text block edges rouged. Woodcut initials. Text and "Tabula" in two columns. Light soiling on title page. An attractive copy, in very good to fine condition. Small armorial stamp on title page of António José da Cunha Reis da Mota Godinho. Armorial bookplate of his great-great-great grandson, António da Cunha Reis, with initials "A.C.R.". Rectangular stamp of António da Cunha Reis above bookplate on front pastedown endleaf. [10], 351, [7] ll. ¶10 A-Z 2a-2x 2y (¶1 verso blank; ¶10 and 2y6 blank). Licenses in Portuguese. *** FIRST EDITION of one of the most important early accounts of Hernando de Soto's expedition. Two issues of the title page are said to exist, one with the date 1605 (as here), one without date. Priority between the two has not been established. A second edition in Spanish was published in Madrid, 1723 (edited by Barcia). The work has been translated to French (Paris, 1670 and 1709), German (Leipzig, 1794), and English (Austin, 1951).Soto landed in Tampa Bay and led his men through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, where Soto died. Luis de Moscoso led the rest of the expedition to the coast of Louisiana, where they took ship for Mexico. In their authoritative bibliography of Florida, the Servies note that this is "one of the major accounts of the travels of De Soto in Florida and throughout the present day Southeastern United States. Although the other major narratives ... provide more accurate details about the chronology of the expedition ... the Inca's work remains the major literary by-product of this historic invasion." It was compiled from the accounts of several of Garcilaso's friends who were on the De Soto expedition, combined with scattered texts and some hearsay. Bancroft commented in 1834 that La Florida del Ynca was "An extravagant romance, yet founded upon facts. Numbers and distances are magnified; and everything embellished with great boldness. His history is not without its value, but must be consulted with extreme caution" (History of the United States I, 66). On the comparative trustworthiness of Garcilaso de la Vega, Biedma's narrative of De Soto's expedition, and the Relaçam verdadeira of the Gentleman of Elvas, see W.B. Rye's introduction to Hakluyt's translation of the latter, "The discovery and conquest of Terra Florida," Hakluyt Society publications, v. [9] 1851, p. xxviii-xxxv.Garcilaso de la Vega (ca. 1540-1616) was born in Cuzco, Peru, making this "the first work published by a native-born American author" (Servies). The natural son of a Spanish conqueror and an Inca noblewoman born in the early years of the conquest, his work was widely read in Europe, influential and well received. His works are considered to have great literary value and are not simple historical chronicles. Provenance: António José da Cunha Reis da Mota Godinho (1744-1820), a native of Braga, was deputado da Junta do Alto Douro. He is said to have purchased a property which had been confiscated from the Jesuits during the ministry of the Marquês de Pombal, and that this property included a Jesuit College, with its library. His great-great-great grandson, António da Cunha Reis, bibliophile and son of a bibliophile, distinguished Lisbon lawyer and corporate administrator, proprietor of the historic Casa dos Cunha Reis, also known as Casa Grande, located in the neighborhood of the cathedral, Braga.*** Howgego I, 978 (S138). Servies, Florida, 101. Arouca V75. Medina, Biblioteca Hispano-Americana 502. Streit II, 1370. U.S. De Soto Expedition Commission, Final Report (1939), pp. 4-6. JCB II, 42; Portuguese and Brazilian Books 605/2. Alden & Landis 605/46. Palau 354790. Sabin 98745. Sousa Viterbo, A literatura hispanhola em Portugal, p. 102. Church 329. HSA, p. 226. Not in Salvá or Heredia. See Bernard Moses, Spanish Colonial Literature in South America, especially pp. 113-24. Porbase locates three copies, all at Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal; the one described lacks the title page and is mutilated in the first quire. Jisc locates one copy each at Leeds University and Oxford University. KVK locates copies at BCU Fribourg-Centrale, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne-Paris, Biblioteca Nacional de España, and repeats the copies cited by Porbase.