A Concise Natural History of East & West Florida

Covering everything from Acadians to YellowFever, Bernard Romans exhaustively addressed daily life in Florida and minutelydescribed its natural features-but he also did much more. He was copious inconveying the manners and customs of the native Chickasaw, Choctaw, and CreekIndians, including, despite their bad traits, one common outstanding virtue: hospitality. Romans also notes the habits and character of the colonists andcomments on the prevalence of drinking. By focusing his attention on even themost minute detail, Romans has given us a fascinating, true account of earlyFlorida.According to the Library of Congress, the variety of natural, aboriginal, historic, and miscellaneous information which (the book)graphically gives is far more original than a great many pioneerhistories. Originally published in 1775, this rare work was firstreprinted by Pelican in 1961.

Bernard Romans was sent by the British government to America in 1755 as a civil engineer. He has been called a universal genius, distinguished not only as an engineer, but also as a surveyor, botanist, writer, and cartographer. His great and extensive map of the Floridas is one of the finest pieces of cartography of the region.