Tim Fulford announces the publication of his edition of Robert Southey’s 'Expedition of Orsua and the Crimes of Aguirre'. First published in 1821, it is the first account in English of one of the earliest expeditions down the Amazon River, made in the years 1560-1 by a renegade band of Spanish conquistadors in search of El Dorado.
This sensational story features mutiny, madness, and murder – the total breakdown of order among power-hungry colonists as they are carried further and further into the immense jungle and further and further from European settlements, as shown in Werner Herzog’s movie ‘Aguirre: Wrath of God’ featuring Klaus Kinski.
This edition contains a comprehensive critical apparatus that make sense of the major issues posed by the text and show how it contributes to studies of Southey, of colonialism and race, and of travel/exploration writing in the nineteenth century more widely. The volume features a critical introduction, which sets out the origins and composition of the text together with its publication history, as well as offering a carefully considered view of the interplay between it and other narratives of exploration of the period.
