Verleger: Evora / Portugal 1557

In dem von J. Franklin Jameson, Ph.D.," Director of the Department of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution of Washington", im Jahre 1907 bei Charles Scribner, Ney York, erschienenen Sammelband "Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States 1528 - 1543" schreibt Theodore H. Lewis,"Honorary member of the Mississippi Historical Society", in seiner Einleitung zu seinem Beitrag "The narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto, by the Gentleman of Elvas": "The Narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas was first published at Evora, Portugal, in 1557. It was reprinted at Lisbon in 1844 by the Royal Academy, and again in 1875. The first French edition appeared in 1685, and an English translation from this edition was published in 1686.The first English version, by Hakluyt, entitled 'Virginia richly valued by the Description of the Mainland of Florida, appeared in 1609, and a reprint entitled 'The worthye and famous Historie of the Travailles, Discovery, and Conquest of Terra Florida, 1611. A reprint from the latter, edited by William B. Rye, was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1851" (p. 132 f, Originalausgabe im Besitz des Herausgebers und des Bengelmann Verlages). LEWIS schreibt zur Verfasserschaft: "The first published narrative was written by a gentleman from the town of Elvas, in Portugal, who joined the expedition and participated in its trials and privations, and in the weary but memorable march through what was than known as Florida. If he was one of those portuguese who are namned in the book as having started from Elvas, the inference may be drawn from the wording of the narrative that he was named Alvaro Fernandez" (p. 129 f).