GASPAR DE PORTOLA: EXPLORER AND FOUNDER OF CALIFORNIA [SIGNED] by Companys, Fernando Boneu; Translated and Revised By Alan K. Brown - 1983

Lerida, Spain : Insitute De Estudios Ilerdenses , 1983. Half leather, gilt stamped green morocco over green marbled boards. SIGNED BY AUTHOR and dated Oct 1986. 404 pages, color frontispiece painting of Don Gaspar de Portola, text illustrations in color and B&W, with maps and facsimile documents. Corrigenda slip laid in. Gaspar de Portola is one of the almost lost figures of early California history. Commander of the expeditions which founded San Diego and Monterey in 1769-1770, he is seldom granted the position of a major founding father of European California. In an effort to spread Portola's achievements "to the four winds," F. Boneau Companys has written and Alan K. Brown has translated a large volume on Portola. The book contains almost a hundred pages of material on Portola's genealogy, accounts of his early career, his years in California, and his later career in Mexico and Spain. Of major importance is the inclusion of a translation of the journal of Miguel Costanso of the Portola expedition to Monterey, as well as translations of Portola's own journal and many letters. Scattered throughout the book are many other documents or parts of documents. Thus Gaspar de Portola: Explorer and Founder of California becomes both an account of Portola's career and a collection of source materials for further study of the period. The book contains enough new material to make this a "must" item for any research library on California in the eighteenth century. Slight rubbing to corners of front cover, overall a bright and fine copy. Crisp and tight, appears unread. A scarce book, especially signed and bound as this copy.. SIGNED. First Edition. Half-Leather. Fine/No jacket as Issued.