56. CABEZA DE VACA, Alvár Nuñez de.
Relation that Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca Gave of
What Befel the Armament in the Indias.... San
Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1929. viii, 122 [2] pp.,
decorations and printer’s device by Valenti Angelo.
4to, original ecru boards. Usual spine darkening. A very
good copy, preserved in a terracotta cloth slipcase.
First
edition, limited edition (#154 of 300 copies) of the
first book about Texas (the first edition was published at
Zamora in 1542. Basic Texas Books 24V: "This is the
first book relating to Texas." Grabhorn 124. Graff 3054.
Library of Congress. Texas Centennial Exhibition 18.
Wagner, Spanish Southwest 1n. Pingenot: This is a
reissue of the Buckingham Smith translation of 1871, and
the most sumptuous edition of this great work. Cabeza de
Vaca was a member of the Narvaez expedition to Florida in
1528. Shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico, he and three
companions set out across Texas eventually reaching
settlements in Mexico in 1536. First published in 1542,
Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative had a profound influence on
the later expeditions of both Coronado and DeSoto.
Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to travel across
the North American continent.
($250-500)