Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition: A Norton Critical Edition

Published in 1542 to an astonished and captivated public, Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition tells the unforgettable story of a sixteenth-century soldier turned explorer who, along with three other survivors of a shipwreck, makes his way across an unknown geographic and cultural landscape. This Norton Critical Edition is based on David Fryes new translation. It is accompanied by Ilan Stavans introduction, the translators preface, the editors detailed explanatory annotations, and a map tracing Cabeza de Vacas journey from Florida to California.

Alternative Narratives and Sequels enriches the readers understanding of and appreciation for Cabeza de Vacas chronicle, which can be read both as historical record and as fiction (Cabeza de Vaca having written his account years after the events took place). Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdézs General and Natural History of the Indies (1535) provides a different account of the same journey, while sequels can be found in a 1539 letter from the Viceroy of New Spain to the Emperor and in Fray Marcos de Nizas Relación on the Discovery of the Kingdom of Cibola (1539).

The Spanish explorers, soldiers, and missionaries of the period saw the New World as a place of enchantment, riches, and opportunity. This spirit is captured in Contexts with documents including a 1493 letter from Christopher Columbus to a potential benefactor of his future travels; Hernán Cortéss 1520 letter from Mexico; and an excerpt from Fray Bartolomés Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1542). A selection from Miguel León Portillas Broken Spears provides readers with the viewpoint of the vanquished.

Criticism includes five major assessments of Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition spanning eighty years. Contributors include Morris Bishop, Rolena Adorno and Patrick Charles Pautz, Paul Schneider, Andrés Reséndez, and Beatriz Rivera-Barnes.

A Chronology, Selected Bibliography, and Index are also included. See more