A very rare account of the life and travels of Francisco Davila y Lugo (1588-1662), who would become Governor of Honduras. It commences with a genealogical history of his family and an account of the part they played in the discovery and settlement of Santa Marta, Grenada, Peru and Puerto Rico. It includes descriptions of Davila y Lugo’s interactions, which is to say battles and skirmishes, with the indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico. He was wounded several times over the course of his life.
Born in Madrid, Davila y Lugo “is apparently the first author of the Golden Age to have migrated to and settled in the Indies. A resident of Puerto Rico from 1620 to 1629, the indiano Francisco Dávila y Lugo was a member of the local elite and served the Spanish court in various roles, including informant to Philip IV“ (McCann).
Davila y Lugo’s work as informant to Philip IV is found in his manuscript Discurso sobre la importancia y conservacion de la plaza e isla de Puerto Rico, written in 1630. It “was based primarily on his experience in the island and the information he collected from the Dutch, who held him captive for 15 months … Discurso revolved around several topics related to Puerto Rico - its agricultural and economic potential, its geopolitical standing, and corruption schemes carried out by high officials …” (Velazquez).
But his interests weren’t strictly political. He also published a collection of eight novellas, Teatro Popular (Madrid, 1622). He became Mayor or Chiapa in 1634. and then Governor of Honduras from 1638-1639.
OCLC finds 2 copies only: UC Berkeley and NYPL.
McCann, Katherine D., ed. Handbook of Latin American Studies, Vol. 76 (Texas, 2022), p.152; Velazquez, M.C., Cultural Representations of Piracy in England, spain, and the Caribbean … (Routledge, 2023). Not in Medina; Maggs, Bib. Americana v. 6 (1923), 90 - this copy.