Description
Espejo’s Journey to New Mexico in 1583, printed in 1928 by the Lancaster Press.
Twelvemo, 37pp, [1]. Gray paper boards, white parchment spine, title in gilt on spine. Printed on fine laid paper with watermarks, uncut edges, gray endpapers. Lightly toned spine. From a limited edition of 200 copies imprinted at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this being number 47. All copies are signed by the editor, Frederick Webb Hodge, a pioneering anthropologist, archeologist and historian. (Tate, 529) (Eberstadt, Texas 162/285) (Saunders 2498) An exceptionally scarce work.
Translated from Spanish, the first accounts of Espejo’s exploration of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico appeared in Madrid in 1586. Known as the Espejo-Beltran expedition, it consisted of fourteen Spanish soldiers and provisions for the rescue of two priests, Lopez and Rodriguez. The expedition resulted in the earliest European colonization effort of the New Mexico territory, exploration of the Pecos River, and encounters with the Jumano Indians near Pecos, Texas. Espejo became the first European to traverse the full length of the Pecos River. He died in 1585 in Havana.
