The University of Guam Press will launch an English translation of the History of the Mariana Islands, which was published by Charles Le Gobien, a French Jesuit priest, in Paris in 1700. It is one of the first history books written about the Marianas.

UOG Press and the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) will host the launch on Thursday, September 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the UOG CLASS Lecture Hall. The book’s editor Alexandre Coello de la Rosa will provide introductory remarks from Barcelona via Skype followed by a panel discussion featuring Associate Professor Omaira Brunal-Perry, who manages the MARC’s Spanish Documents Collection and Assistant Professor of Chamorro Studies James Perez Viernes.

History of the Mariana Islands provides a detailed glimpse into a tumultuous and critically significant period in the history of the Mariana Islands and the Chamorro people – the period commonly referred to as the Spanish-Chamorro Wars. Using research conducted in several national and international archives in Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, and at MARC, editor Coello de la Rosa produced this English translation. This present edition stems from a manuscript preserved in the Arxiu de la Companyia de Jesus a Catalunya, in Barcelona, which was attributed to Father Luis de Morales, who had been part of the Jesuit mission to the Marianas. Thus, this text calls into question the authorship of Father Le Gobien, not only because the French Jesuit never stepped foot in the Marianas, but also because his text is based on reports, relations and letters written by other fellow Jesuits, among whom was Father Morales.

History of the Mariana Islands costs $20 and will be available for sale at the event.

For more information, please contact UOG Press Managing Editor Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero at (671)735-2154 or victorialola@triton.uog.edu.