Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519-1574) founded St. Augustine in 1565. His expedition was documented by his brother-in-law, Gonzalo Solis de Meras, who left a detailed and passionate account of the events leading to the establishment of America's oldest city.

Until recently, the only extant version of Solis de Meras's record was one single manuscript which Eugenio Ruidiaz y Caravia transcribed in 1893, and subsequent editions and translations have always followed Ruidiaz's text. In 2012 David Arbesu discovered a more complete record: a manuscript including folios lost for centuries and,...