Bernard Romanss <strong>A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida</strong> originallypublished in 1775 provides one of the most significant early descr... » 

Bernard Romanss A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida originallypublished in 1775 provides one of the most significant early descriptions ofboth the Europeansettled areas and the adjoining Indian lands in what is nowFlorida Georgia Alabama Mississippi and Louisiana. It is also the mostrare.A trained surveyor and cartographer and a selftaught naturalist Romans makesdetailed observations about the natural environment native peoples andEuropean settlements and discusses the regions potential for economicdevelopment. He provides information on the state of scientific inquiry in theSouth and touches on many of the most important intellectual arguments of theday such as the origin of races and the benefits or drawbacks of monopoly ontrade. He also provides a howto section on what prospective settlers neededfor successfully establishing a plantation or farm in the region. Althoughlike other contemporary writers Romanss comments concerning the Indians wereoften marred by ethnocentrism he nonetheless presents valuable often uniqueinformation on various tribes. Perhaps the most important parts of the work arein fact his sketches and descriptions of the largest southeastern Indiantribes the Creeks Choctaws and Chickasaws.In addition to annotations of Romanss text Kathryn E. Holland Braund includesan introductory chapter on Romanss life and works and a chapter that analyzesthe book as a historical source places it in the context of the existingliterature and provides detailed information on the topics Romans discussed. «