PALOU'S LIFE OF FRAY JUNIPERO SERRA: Translated & Annotated by Maynard J. Geiger, O.F.M., Ph.D.

Washington, D.C.: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1955. Hardcover. Very good. Palou's biography is the first and most authoritative first-hand portrait of California's seminal pioneer figure. Originally published in Spanish in 1787, this was the first book written by a person in California. Supplemented by his excellent critical notes following the text, Geiger's translation is both smooth and accurate. The editing has gone far to correct some of Palou's misstatements and to clarify some of the more obscure points of the 1913 translation. Small quarto: xxx, 547 pp. with a frontispiece portrait, 5 illustrations, and endpaper maps. Original blue cloth binding, with gilt-stamped titles and borders. Better than very good. (Inventory #: 78001)