author
R. A. (Rudolph Adams) Van Middeldyk
b. 1832
Best known for an early English-language history of Puerto Rico, this 19th-century librarian wrote with close access to local records and a clear interest in the island's long colonial story.
1 Audiobook
The History of Puerto Rico From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation
by R. A. (Rudolph Adams) Van Middeldyk
About the author
Rudolph Adams Van Middeldyk, born in 1832, is known for The History of Puerto Rico: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation, published in 1903. Library and book records identify him as R. A. Van Middeldyk and connect him closely with Puerto Rican historical writing.
Contemporary descriptions of the book say he was librarian of the Free Public Library of San Juan. Those same sources note that his position gave him access to substantial local material, which helped him produce what has been described as the first major historical study of Puerto Rico in English.
His work drew on earlier Puerto Rican historians such as Salvador Brau, Cayetano Coll y Toste, and José Julián Acosta, along with early Spanish chronicles. Because so little biographical information appears in the readily available sources beyond his birth year and library role, much of his life remains obscure today, but his book has continued to circulate through major public-domain and library collections.