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A letter written by
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
on February 15, 1493 is the first known document announcing the results of his first voyage that set out in 1492 and reached the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...
. The letter was ostensibly written by Columbus himself, aboard the
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
''
Niña ''La Niña'' ( Spanish for ''The Girl'') was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's n ...
'', on the return leg of his voyage.Ife, Barry W. (1992) "Introduction to the Letters from America", King's College London

Accessed February 12, 2012.
A
postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Do ...
was added upon his arrival in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
on March 4, 1493, and it was probably from there that Columbus dispatched two copies of his letter to the Spanish court. The letter was instrumental in spreading the news throughout Europe about Columbus's voyage. Almost immediately after Columbus's arrival in Spain, printed versions of the letter began to appear. A Spanish version of the letter (presumably addressed to
Luis de Santángel Luis de Santángel (died 1498) was a third generation ''converso'' in Spain during the late fifteenth century. Santángel worked as ''escribano de ración'' to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain which left him in charge of the Royal ...
), was printed in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
by early April 1493, and a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
translation (addressed to Gabriel Sánchez) was published in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
around a month later (ca. May 1493). The Latin version was swiftly disseminated and reprinted in many other locations—
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, etc.—still within the first year of his arrival. In his letter, Christopher Columbus claimed to have discovered and taken possession of a series of islands on the edge of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
in Asia; Columbus was not aware that he had stumbled upon a new continent. He described the islands, particularly
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
and
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
, exaggerating their size and wealth, and suggested that mainland
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
probably lay nearby. He also gave a brief description of the native
Arawaks The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...
(whom he called " Indians"), emphasizing their docility and amenability, and the prospects of their conversion to Catholicism. However, the letter also revealed local rumors about a fierce man-eating tribe of "monsters" in the area (probably Caribs), although Columbus himself disbelieved the stories, and dismissed them as a
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. The letter provides very few details of the oceanic voyage itself, and covers up the loss of the flagship of his fleet, the '' Santa María'', by suggesting Columbus left it behind with some colonists, in a
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
he erected at La Navidad in Hispaniola. In the letter, Columbus urges the
Catholic monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
to sponsor a second, larger expedition to the Indies, promising to bring back immense riches. A slightly different version of Columbus's letter, in manuscript form, addressed to the Catholic monarchs of Spain, was found in 1985, part of the ''Libro Copiador'' collection, and has led to some revision of the history of the Columbus letter. The two earliest published copies of Columbus's letter on the first voyage aboard the
Niña ''La Niña'' ( Spanish for ''The Girl'') was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's n ...
were donated in 2017 by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation to the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
library in
Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
, where they are housed.


Background

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
, a Genoese captain in the service of the
Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...
, set out on his first voyage in August 1492 with the objective of reaching the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
by sailing west across the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. As is well known, instead of reaching Asia, Columbus stumbled upon the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
islands of the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...
. Convinced nonetheless he had discovered the edges of Asia, Columbus set sail back to Spain on January 15, 1493, aboard the
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
''
Niña ''La Niña'' ( Spanish for ''The Girl'') was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's n ...
''. According to the journal of his voyage, on February 14, Columbus was caught in a storm off the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
islands. The resulting poor condition of his ship forced him to put in at
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
(
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
) on March 4, 1493. Columbus finally arrived at
Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the cit ...
in Spain eleven days later, on March 15, 1493. During the return journey, while aboard the ship, Columbus wrote a letter reporting the results of his voyage and announcing his discovery of the "islands of the Indies". In a postscript added while he was idling in Lisbon, Columbus reports sending at least two copies of the letter to the Spanish court—one copy to the
Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
,
Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia fro ...
and
Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 b ...
, and a second copy to the Aragonese official
Luis de Santángel Luis de Santángel (died 1498) was a third generation ''converso'' in Spain during the late fifteenth century. Santángel worked as ''escribano de ración'' to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain which left him in charge of the Royal ...
, the principal supporter and financial backer of Columbus's expedition. Copies of Columbus's letter were somehow picked up by publishers, and printed editions of his letter began to appear throughout Europe within weeks of Columbus's return to Spain.Matthew Edney (1996, rev. 2009), "The Columbus Letter: The Diffusion of Columbus's Letter through Europe, 1493–1497
online
at the University of Southern Maine (accessed Jan 9, 2017).
A Spanish version of the letter (based on the letter he sent to Luis de Santángel) was printed in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
probably in late March or early April 1493. A
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
translation of the letter (addressed to Gabriel Sanchez) was printed in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
about a month later. Within the first year of his arrival, eight more editions of the Latin version were printed in various European cities—two in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
, three in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, another two in Rome and another in
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
. Already by June 1493, the letter had been translated by a poet into Italian verse, and that version went through multiple editions in the next couple of years. A
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
translation appeared in 1497. The rapid dissemination of Columbus's letter was enabled by the
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
, a new invention that had established itself only recently. Columbus's letter (particularly the Latin edition) forged the initial public perception of the newly discovered lands. Indeed, until the discovery of Columbus's on-board journal, first published in the 19th century, this letter was the only known direct testimony by Columbus of his experiences on the first voyage of 1492. It is estimated that, on the whole, between 1493 and 1500, some 3,000 copies of the Columbus letter were published, half of them in Italy, making it something of a best-seller for the times. By contrast, Columbus's 1495 letter of his second voyage and his 1505 letter of his fourth voyage had only one printing each, probably not exceeding 200 copies. Original versions of Columbus's letter, written by his hand, have never been found. Only the printed editions—Spanish and Latin—are known. However, a third version of the letter, contained in a 16th-century manuscript collection known as the ''Libro Copiador'', was discovered in 1985. This manuscript version differs in several significant ways from the printed editions and, although its authenticity is still tentative, many believe the ''Copiador'' version to be a closer rendition of Columbus's original missive.


Content of the letter

The published Latin versions of the letter are almost all titled "Letter of Columbus, on the islands of India beyond the
Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
recently discovered". The term "India beyond the Ganges" (''India extra Gangem'') was the archaic term frequently used by earlier geographers (e.g.,
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
) to refer vaguely to
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
(roughly from Burma down to the Malay peninsula); the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
proper was referred to as "India within the Ganges" (''India intra Gangem''). Thus the islands of "India beyond the Ganges" claimed to have been reached would roughly correspond to modern
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
or thereabouts. The earlier printed Spanish edition bears no title, nor does the manuscript copy of the letter to the Catholic monarchs (''Libro Copiador''). In the letter, Christopher Columbus does not describe the journey itself, saying only that he traveled thirty-three days and arrived at the islands of "the Indies" (''las Indias''), "all of which I took possession for our Highnesses, with proclaiming heralds and flying royal standards, and no one objecting". He describes the islands as being inhabited by "Indians" (''Indios''). In the printed letters, Columbus relates how he bestowed new names on six of the islands. Four are in the modern
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
: (1) ''Sant Salvador'' (for which he also gives the local name, ''Guanaham'' in the Spanish edition and ''Guanahanin'' in the Latin letter; modern English texts normally render it as ''
Guanahani Guanahaní is an island in the Bahamas that was the first land in the New World sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus' first voyage, on 12 October 1492. It is a bean-shaped island that Columbus changed from its native Taíno name to San ...
''), (2) ''Santa Maria de Concepcion'', (3) ''Ferrandina'' (''Fernandinam'' in the Latin version, in modern texts ''Fernandina''), and (4) ''la isla Bella'' (given as ''Hysabellam'' in the Latin version, and ''La Isabela'' in modern texts). He also names (5) ''La Isla Juana'' (''Joanam'' in Latin, modern
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
) and (6) the island of ''La Spañola'' (''Hispana'' in the Latin letter, modern
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
). In the letter, Columbus says that he believes Juana is actually part of the continental mainland (''terra firme'') of
Cathay Cathay (; ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from China, which ...
(''Catayo'', archaic for
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
), even though he also admits some of the Indians he encountered informed him that Juana was an island. Later in the letter, Columbus locates the islands at the latitude of 26°N, more north of their actual location ("es distinta de la linea equinocial veinte e seis grados"). (Note: in the ''Copiador'' version, Columbus makes no mention of the latitudes nor the native name ''Guanahanin''.) In his letter, Columbus describes how he sailed along the northern coast of Juana (Cuba) for a spell, searching for cities and rulers, but found only small villages "without any sort of government" ("no cosa de regimiento"). He notes that the natives usually fled when approached. Finding this track fruitless, he decided to double-back and head southeast, eventually sighting the large island of Hispaniola, and explored along its northern coast. Columbus exaggerates the size of these lands, claiming Juana is greater in size than
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
("maior que Inglaterra y Escocia juntas") and Hispaniola larger than the
Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
("en cierco tiene mas que la Espana toda"). In his letter, Columbus seems to attempt to present the islands of the Indies as suitable for future
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
. Columbus's descriptions of the natural habitat in his letters emphasize the rivers, woodlands, pastures, and fields "very suitable for planting and cultivating, for raising all sorts of livestock herds and erecting towns and farms" ("gruesas para plantar y senbrar, para criar ganados de todas suertes, para hedificios de villas e lugares"). He also proclaims that Hispaniola "abounds in many spices, and great mines of gold, and other metals" ("ay mucha especiarias y grandes minas de oros y otros metales"). He compares lush and well-watered Hispaniola as more favorable to settlement than mountainous Cuba. Columbus characterizes the native inhabitants of the Indies islands as primitive, innocent, without reason ("like beasts", "como bestias"), and unthreatening. He describes how they go about largely naked, that they lack iron and weapons, and are by nature fearful and timid ("son asi temerosos sin remedio"), even "excessively cowardly" ("en demasiado grado cobardes"). According to Columbus, when persuaded to interact, the natives are quite generous and naïve, willing to exchange significant amounts of valuable gold and cotton for useless glass trinkets, broken crockery, and even shoelace tips ("cabos de agugetas"). In the printed editions (albeit not in the ''Copiador'' version) Columbus notes that he tried to prevent his own sailors from exploiting the Indians' naïveté, and that he even gave away things of value, like cloth, to the natives as gifts, in order to make them well-disposed "so that they might be made Christians and incline full of love and service towards Our Highnesses and all the Castilian nation". Columbus makes particular note that the natives lack organized religion, not even
idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the ...
("no conocian ninguna seta nin idolatria"). He claims the natives believed the Spaniards and their ships had "come down from heaven" ("que yo...venia del cielo"). Columbus notes that the natives of different islands seem to all speak the same language (the Arawaks of the region all spoke
Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
), which he conjectures will facilitate "conversion to the holy religion of Christ, to which in truth, as far as I can perceive, they are very ready and favorably inclined". Possibly worried that his characterization might make it appear that the natives are unsuitable for useful labor, Columbus notes that the Indians are "not slow or unskilled, but of excellent and acute understanding". He also notes that the "women appear to work more than the men". Columbus's physical descriptions are brief, noting only that the natives have straight hair and "nor are they black like those in Guinea". They go around usually naked, although sometimes they wear a small
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
loincloth A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...
. They often carry a hollow
cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are ...
, which they use to both till and fight. They eat their food "with many spices which are far too hot" ("comen con especias muchas y muy calientes en demasía"; in the ''Copiador'' version Columbus refers to a red hot
chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
by its Taíno name, ''agís''). Columbus claims the Indians practice monogamy ("each man is content with only one wife"), "except for the rulers and kings" (who can have as many as twenty wives). He confesses he is uncertain if they have a notion of
private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
("Ni he podido entender si tenian bienes proprios"). In a more detailed passage, Columbus describes the Indian oar-driven
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...
(''canoa'', the first known written appearance of this word, originally from the
Taíno language Taíno is an extinct Arawakan language that was spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. At the time of Spanish contact, it was the most common language throughout the Caribbean. Classic Taíno (Taíno proper) was the native language of th ...
). Columbus compares the Indian canoe to the European '' fusta'' (small galley). Towards the end of the letter, Columbus reveals that local Indians told him about the possible existence of
cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
s, which he refers to as "monsters" ("monstruos"). This is a probable reference to the Caribs from the
Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , co ...
, although neither the word "cannibal" nor "Carib" appears in the printed editions (however, in the ''Copiador'' letter, he claims the "monsters" come from an island called "Caribo", possibly
Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographical ...
). Columbus says the monsters are reported to be long-haired, very ferocious, and "eat human flesh" ("los quales comen carne humana"). Columbus has not seen them himself, but says that local Indians claim the monsters have many canoes, and that they sail from island to island, raiding everywhere. However, Columbus proclaims disbelief in the existence of these "monsters", or rather suggests this is likely just a local Indian myth pertaining to some distant Indian seafaring tribe who are probably not unlike themselves ("I regard them as of no more account than the others", "yo no los tengo en nada mas que a los otros"). Columbus connects the monsters story to another local legend about a tribe of female warriors, who are said to inhabit the island of "Matinino" east of Hispaniola ("first island of the Indies, closest to Spain", possibly referring to
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...
). Columbus speculates that the aforesaid canoe-borne monsters are merely the "husbands" of these warrior women, who visit the island intermittently for mating. The island of women reportedly abounds in
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
, which the warrior-women forge into weapons and shields. Lest his readers begin to get wary, Columbus rounds off with a more optimistic report, saying the local Indians of Hispaniola also told him about a very large island nearby which "abounds in countless gold" ("en esta ay oro sin cuenta"). (He doesn't give this gold island a name in the printed letters, but in the ''Copiador'' version, this island is identified and named as "
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
".) In the printed letters, Columbus claims to be bringing back some of the gold island's "bald-headed" inhabitants with him. Earlier in the letter, Columbus had spoken also of the land of "Avan" ("Faba" in the ''Copiador'' letter), in the western parts of Juana, where men are said to be "born with tails" ("donde nacan la gente con cola")—probably a reference to the
Guanajatabey The Guanahatabey (also spelled Guanajatabey) were an indigenous people of western Cuba at the time of European contact. Archaeological and historical studies suggest the Guanahatabey were archaic hunter-gatherers with a distinct language and c ...
of western Cuba. The ''Libro Copiador'' version of the letter contains more native names of islands than the printed editions. For instance, in the ''Copiador'' letter, Columbus notes that island of "monsters" is called "Caribo", and explains how the warrior-women of Matinino send away their male children to be raised there. It also refers to an island called "Borinque" (
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
), unmentioned in the printed editions, that the natives report to lie between Hispaniola and Caribo. The ''Copiador'' letter notes Juana is called "
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
" by the natives ("aquéllos llaman de Cuba"). He also gives more details about the gold island, saying it is "larger than Juana", and lying on the other side of it, "which they call
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
", where "all the people have no hair and there is gold without measure" ("que llaman Jamaica; adonde toda la gente della son si cabellos, en ésta ay oro sin medida"). In the ''Copiador'' letter, Columbus suggests that he is bringing normal (full-haired) Indians back to Spain who have been to Jamaica, who will report more about it (rather than bringing the island's own bald-headed inhabitants, as claimed in the printed letters). Columbus also gives an account of some of his own activities in the letters. In the letter, he notes that he ordered the erection of the fort of La Navidad on the island of Hispaniola, leaving behind some Spanish colonists and traders. Columbus reports he also left behind a
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
—evidently covering up the loss of his flagship, the '' Santa María''. He reports that La Navidad is located near reported gold mines, and is a well-placed entrepot for the commerce that will doubtlessly soon be opened with the Great Khan ("gran Can") on the mainland. He speaks of a local king near Navidad whom he befriended and treated him as a brother ("y grand amistad con el Rey de aquella tierra en tanto grado que se preciava de me lhamar e tener por hermano")—almost certainly a reference to
Guacanagaríx Guacanagarix (alternate transcriptions: Guacanacaríc, Guacanagarí) was one of five Taíno caciques of the Caribbean island henceforth known as Hispaniola at the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. This was contemporaneous with the first of the ...
, cacique of Marién. In the ''Copiador'' version (but not the printed editions), Columbus alludes to the treachery of "one from Palos" ("uno de Palos"), who made off with one of the ships, evidently a complaint about Martín Alonso Pinzón, the captain of the '' Pinta'' (although this portion of the ''Copiador'' manuscript is damaged and hard to read). The ''Copiador'' version also mentions other points of personal friction not contained in the printed editions, e.g. references to the ridicule Columbus suffered in the Spanish court prior to his departure, his bowing to pressure to use large ships for ocean navigation, rather than the small
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
s he preferred, which would have been more convenient for exploring. At the end of his printed letter, Columbus promises that if the Catholic Monarchs back his bid to return with a larger fleet, he will bring back a lot of gold,
spices A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...
,
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
(repeatedly referenced in the letter),
mastic gum Mastic ( el, Μαστίχα) is a resin obtained from the mastic tree (''Pistacia lentiscus''). It is also known as tears of Chios, being traditionally produced on the island Chios, and, like other natural resins, is produced in "tears" or dropl ...
,
aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wi ...
,
slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, and possibly
rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of '' Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhi ...
and
cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...
("of which I heard about here"). Columbus ends the letter urging their Majesties, the Church, and the people of Spain to give thanks to God for allowing him to find so many souls, hitherto lost, ready for conversion to Christianity and eternal salvation. He also urges them to give thanks in advance for all the temporal goods found in abundance in the Indies that shall soon be made available to Castile and the rest of Christendom. The ''Copiador'' version (but not the printed Spanish or Latin editions) also contains a somewhat bizarre detour into messianic fantasy, where Columbus suggests the monarchs should use the wealth of the Indies to finance a new
crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
to conquer
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Columbus himself offering to underwrite a large army of ten thousand cavalry and hundred thousand infantry to that end. The sign off varies between editions. The printed Spanish letter is dated aboard the caravel "on the Canary Islands" on February 15, 1493. ("Fecha en la caravela sobra las yslas de Canaria a xv de Febrero, ano Mil.cccclxxxxiii"), and signed merely "El Almirante", while the printed Latin editions are signed "Cristoforus Colom, oceanee classis prefectus" ("Prefect of the Ocean fleet"). However, it is doubtful Columbus actually signed the original letter that way. According to the
Capitulations of Santa Fe The Capitulations of Santa Fe between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, were signed in Santa Fe, Granada on April 17, 1492. They granted Columbus the titles of admiral of ...
negotiated prior to his departure (April 1492), Christopher Columbus was ''not'' entitled to use the title of "
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...
of the Ocean Sea" unless his voyage was successful. It would be highly presumptuous for Columbus to sign his name that way in February or March, when the original letter was drafted, before that success was confirmed by the royal court. Columbus only obtained confirmation of his title on March 30, 1493, when the Catholic Monarchs, acknowledging the receipt of his letter, address Columbus for the first time as "our Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Vice-Roy and Governor of the islands which have been discovered in the Indies" ("nuestro Almirante del mar Océano e Visorrey y Gobernador de las Islas que se han descubierto en las Indias"). This suggests the signature in the printed editions was not in the original letter, but was an editorial choice by the copyists or printers. In the ''Copiador'' version there are passages (omitted from the printed editions) petitioning the monarchs for the honors promised him at Santa Fe, and additionally asking for a
cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are ap ...
for his son and the appointment of his friend, Pedro de Villacorta, as paymaster of the Indies. The ''Copiador'' letter signs off as "made in the sea of Spain on March 4, 1493" ("Fecha en la mar de España, a quatro días de março"), a stark contrast to the February 15 given in the printed versions. There is no name or signature at the end of the ''Copiador'' letter; it ends abruptly "En la mar" ("At sea"). In the printed Spanish editions (albeit not in the Latin editions nor the ''Copiador''), there is a small
postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Do ...
dated March 14, written in Lisbon, noting that the return journey took only 28 days (in contrast with the 33 days outward), but that unusual winter storms had kept him delayed for an additional 23 days. A codicil in the printed Spanish edition indicates that Columbus sent this letter to the "Escribano de Racion", and another to their Highnesses. The Latin editions contain no postscript, but end with a verse
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...
added by Leonardus de Cobraria, Bishop of Monte Peloso.


History of the letter

No original
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...
copy of Columbus's letter is known to exist. Historians have had to rely on clues in the printed editions, many of them published without date or location, to reconstruct the history of the letter. It is assumed that Columbus wrote the original letter in Spanish. As a result, historians tend to agree that the Barcelona edition (which has no date or publisher name, and the appearance of being hurriedly printed) was probably the first to be published, and was the closest to the original manuscript. At the end of the Barcelona edition there is a codicil stating: ::"''Esta carta enbió Colom al Escrivano de Ración, de las Islas halladas en las Indias, contenida á otra de sus Altezas.''" (Trans: "This letter was sent by Columbus to the Escrivano de Racion. Of the islands found in the Indies. it contains (was contained in?) another (letter) for their Highnesses") This suggests that Columbus dispatched two letters—one to the ''Escrivano de Ración'', Luis de Santángel, and another to the Catholic Monarchs. In the printed version of the Spanish letter, the post-script is dated March 14, rather than March 4; this could be just a printer's error; the letter to the monarchs in the ''Libro Copiador'' gives the correct post-script date, March 4, 1493.


Dispatch

In his summary of the on-board journal, Columbus's son Ferdinand Columbus (corroborated by
Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( ; ; 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar ...
) reports that his father wrote two letters to the Catholic monarchs in the middle of a storm around the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
on February 14, and sealed them in watertight casks, one thrown overboard, another tied to the
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Or ...
, so that if the ships foundered, the letters would drift on their own to land. It is nearly impossible to suppose the letters were dispatched in this manner; the casks were probably fished back when the storm subsided, and the post-script confirms they were sent later. (It is also unlikely Columbus initiated the long letter in the middle of the storm—he surely had more urgent matters to attend to; he probably wrote the main body of the letter in the calm period before the storm began on February 12, and hurried to finish them when the storm hit.) There is some uncertainty over whether Christopher Columbus sent the letters directly from Lisbon, after docking there on March 4, 1493, or held on to them until he reached Spain, dispatching the letters only after his arrival at
Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the cit ...
on March 15, 1493. It is highly probable, albeit uncertain, that Columbus sent the letter from Lisbon to the Spanish court, probably by courier. Columbus's journal says that upon docking in Lisbon,
Bartholomew Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( 1450 – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lay in the o ...
(on behalf of King
John II of Portugal John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establishi ...
) demanded that Columbus deliver his report to him, which Columbus strenuously refused, saying his report was for the monarchs of Spain alone. Columbus probably realized time was of the essence. It was common for royal and commercial agents to accost and interview returning sailors in the docks, so the Portuguese king would likely have the information he sought soon enough. Once he determined the location of the islands discovered by Columbus, John II might initiate a legal offensive or dispatch his own ships, to claim them for Portugal. So Columbus realized the Spanish court needed to be informed of the results of his voyage as soon as possible. Had Columbus decided to wait until he reached Palos to dispatch his letter, it might have been received too late for the Spanish monarchs to react and forestall any Portuguese actions. The earliest Spanish record of the news, reporting that Columbus "had arrived in Lisbon and found all that he went to seek", is contained in a letter by
Luis de la Cerda y de la Vega Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
, Duke of Medinaceli, in Madrid, dated March 19, 1493. It was possibly fear of the interception of the courier from Lisbon by Portuguese agents that prompted Columbus to introduce some
disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the ...
in his letter. For instance, Columbus claims he wrote the letter on a caravel while he was around the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
(rather than the Azores) probably in order to conceal that he had been sailing in Portuguese territorial waters. (The manuscript letter to the Monarchs writes the location as "Mar de España".) In the letter, Columbus also locates the islands at 26°N, quite north of their actual location, probably trying to set them above the
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
line designated by the
Treaty of Alcáçovas The Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) was signed on 4 September 1479 between the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal, on the other side ...
of 1479 as the boundary of the exclusive dominions of the Portuguese crown (he fell a little short—the treaty latitude was set at the Canary islands latitude, approximately 27°50', which cuts around the middle of the Florida peninsula). He gives no details of his bearing, no mention of whether he sailed west, north or south, or whether the waters were shallow or deep—Columbus's letters "say much and reveal nothing". Moreover, he is unclear about the length of the trip, claiming it took "thirty-three days" (which is roughly correct if measured from the Canaries, but it was seventy-one days since he left Spain itself; Columbus's letter leaves it ambiguous). Finally, his emphatic statement that he formally "took possession" of the islands for the Catholic monarchs, and left men (and a ship) at La Navidad, may have been emphasized to forestall any Portuguese claim.


Recipients

The explicit recipient of Columbus's Spanish letter was the ''Escribano de Ración''—at that time, Luis de Santángel. An official position of the
Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...
, the ''Escribano de Ración'' was the high accountant or comptroller of the king's household expenditures, and can be thought of as a
finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
to Ferdinand II of Aragon.Adler, Joseph (1998) "Christopher Columbus's Voyage of Discovery: Jewish and New Schristian Elements", ''Midstream''. As foun
online
, accessed February 12, 2012
It is unsurprising that Columbus singled Santangel out as the first recipient of the news. Santangel had been the person who made the case to, and persuaded, Queen Isabella to sponsor Columbus's voyage eight months earlier. Indeed, Santangel arranged for much of the financing to the Castilian crown (much of it from his own pocket) to enable the monarchs to sponsor it. As Santangel had a lot riding on the results of this expedition, perhaps more than anybody else, it was perhaps natural for Columbus to address his first letter to him. Moreover, as the letter indicates, Columbus sought more financing to return with an even larger fleet to the Indies as soon as possible, so it would be useful to contact Santangel immediately, so he could set the wheels in motion for a second voyage. The story of the second copy of the letter, the one ostensibly sent to the Catholic Monarchs, has been more complicated. The "contain" verb in the codicil of the Spanish Letter to Santangel leaves ambiguous which one was contained in which. Some believe the letters to the Monarchs and to Santangel were sent separately, perhaps even on different days (March 4 and March 14 respectively) others suggest Santangel was supposed to personally deliver the letter to the monarchs (even though handling royal correspondence was outside his formal functions, Santangel's proximity to Isabella may have been a security consideration); still others believe it the other way around, that the letter to Santangel was submitted first to the monarchs to get royal approval before being forwarded to Santangel for ultimate publication (it would have been consistent with Santangel's office as ''Escribano'', to oversee and pay the printers). The reply of the Catholic monarchs to Columbus, dated March 30, 1493, acknowledges receipt of the letter, but clarifies nothing about how it was delivered. It was long believed by historians that the printed Spanish editions, although bearing no addressee except "Señor", was based on the copy of the letter sent by Columbus to Luis de Santangel, but that the Latin edition printed in Rome (and subsequently Basel, Paris, etc.) was a translated version of the copy of the letter sent by Columbus to the Catholic Monarchs. The printed Spanish and Latin editions are practically identical, with only some very minor differences, most of them attributable to the printers. In particular, the Latin edition omits the postscript and codicil pertaining to the ''Escribano'', and adds a prologue and epilogue not present in the Spanish editions, which give some clues as to its assumed provenance. The earliest Latin version (although bearing no date or printer name) states the letter was addressed to "Raphael Sanxis" (assumed to mean Gabriel Sanchez, the treasurer of the Crown of Aragon), and has an opening salutation hailing the Catholic king Ferdinand II of Aragon (later Latin editions correct the addressee's name to "Gabriel Sanchez" and add Isabella I of Castile to the salutation). The prologue notes that the translation into Latin was undertaken by the notary Leander de Cosco and completed on April 29, 1493 ("third of the calends of May"). The Latin editions also have an epilogue with an epigram lauding Ferdinand II by the Neapolitan prelate Leonardus de Corbaria, Bishop of Monte Peloso. For much of the past century, many historians have interpreted these notes to indicate that the Latin edition was a translated copy of the letter Columbus sent to the Catholic monarchs, who were holding court in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
at the time. The story commonly related is that after Columbus's original Spanish letter was read out loud at court, the notary Leander de Cosco was commissioned by Ferdinand II (or his treasurer, Gabriel Sanchez) to translate it into Latin. A copy was subsequently forwarded to
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
( then part of the Crown of Aragon), where Bishop Leonardus got a hold of it. The bishop subsequently carried it to Rome, probably to report its contents to
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
. At the time, the pope was then deep in the midst of arbitrating between the claims of the crowns of Portugal and Spain over Columbus's discoveries. The papal bull , delivering the pope's initial opinion, was issued on May 3, 1493, albeit there remained disputed details to work out (a second and third bull followed soon after). It is possible Bishop Leander sought to use Columbus's letter to influence that process. While in Rome, Bishop Leonardus arranged for the publication of the letter by the Roman printer Stephanus Plannck, possibly with an eye to help popularize and advance the Spanish case. The letter's subsequent reprinting in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
within a few months, seems to suggest that copies of the Roman edition went along the usual trade routes into
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
, probably carried by merchants interested in this news. The 1985 discovery of a manuscript copybook, known as the ''Libro Copiador'', containing a copy of Columbus's letter addressed to the Catholic Monarchs, has led to a revision of this history. The ''Copiador'' version has some very distinctive differences from the printed editions. It is now increasingly believed that the Latin edition printed in Rome is actually a translation of the letter to Santangel, and that the letter to the Monarchs was never translated nor printed. In other words, ''all'' the printed editions, Spanish and Latin, derive from the same Spanish letter to Luis de Santangel,. In this view, the reference to "Raphael Sanxis" added by the Roman printer is regarded as a simple error, probably arising from confusion or uncertainty in Italy about whom exactly was holding the office of "Escribano de Racion" of Aragon at the time, the bishop or the printer mistakenly assuming it was Gabrel Sanchez and not Luis de Santangel. But another possibility is that the Aragonese bureaucracy made a copy of Santangel's letter, and forwarded a copy to Sanchez for his information, and that this letter found its way to Italy by some channel, with or without royal permission (a fragment of an Italian translation suggests the treasurer sent a copy to his brother, Juan Sanchez, then a merchant in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
.) Nonetheless, some historians believe that Columbus sent three distinct letters: one the Catholic Monarchs (the manuscript copy), another to Luis de Santangel (origin of the printed Spanish editions), and a third to Gabriel Sanchez (origin of the Latin editions). In other words, that the Santangel and Sanchez letters, although practically identical, are nonetheless distinct. However, this leave open the question of why Columbus would have sent a separate letter to Gabriel Sanchez, treasurer of Aragon, with whom he was not intimate, nor was particularly involved in the Indies enterprise, nor any more influential in court than Santangel or some other people Columbus might have addressed. The choice of Gabriel Sanchez may, however, have been at Luis de Santangel's recommendation or initiative. Gabriel Sanchez was of a family of
converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
s who traced their origins back to a Jew named Alazar Goluff of
Saragossa Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributar ...
, and Sanchez was married to the daughter of Santangel's cousin (also named Luis de Santangel).Uchamany (1993
p. 110
Although there is no record of Sanchez's direct involvement in the organization or financing of the fleet, his nephew, Rodrigo Sanchez, was aboard Columbus's ship as either a surgeonHoward Sachar (1994) "Destination: the New World", extract from ''Farewell Espana: The world of the Sephardim Remembered''. New York: Knopf, a
reprint
ed at MyJewishLearning.com
or a ''veedor'' (or fiscal inspector). Years earlier, Gabriel Sanchez's three brothers—Juan, Alfonso and Guillen—as well as his brother-in-law, the son of Santangel's cousin (also, confusingly, named Luis de Santangel, like his father) were accused of conspiracy in the murder of the Spanish inquisitor
Pedro de Arbués Pedro de Arbués, also known as ''Peter of Arbués'' (c. 1441 – 17 September 1485) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed Augustinian canon. He served as an official of the Spanish Inquisition until he was assassinated in the La ...
in 1485. Juan and Alfonso escaped abroad, Guillen was tried but given the chance to repent. The Santangel brother-in-law, however, was found guilty of
Judaizing Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...
and sentenced to death. Gabriel Sanchez himself was also accused, but he was soon extricated by his employer, King Ferdinand II. Perhaps not coincidentally, another of the persons implicated in the conspiracy was the uncle of Leander Cosco, the Latin translator of Columbus's letter to Sanchez, who may himself have been a relative to the Sanchez clan. Gabriel's brother Juan Sanchez set himself up in Florence as a merchant, and is known to have received a copy of Columbus's letter from Gabriel Sanchez, which commissioned to be translated into Italian (only a partial fragment survives, see below). One of Gabriel's nephews, also named Juan Sanchez, would later (1502) become the agent of the Aragon treasury in Seville and a contractor of supplies for the Hispaniola colonies. These intricate familial connections between Luis de Santangel, Gabriel Sanchez, Juan Sanchez and Leander Cosco, could be a mere coincidence, but it also suggests that the dissemination process may have been centrally organized by Luis de Santangel through channels he trusted. It been suggested in recent years that the printed letter may not have been written in its entirety by the hand of Columbus, but rather was edited by a court official, probably Luis de Santangel. This is reinforced by the discovery of the ''Libro Copiador''. The text in the printed Spanish and Latin editions is much cleaner and streamlined than the roaming prose of Columbus's letter to the monarchs found in the ''Libro Copiador''. In particular, the printed editions omit practically all of Columbus's allusions to personal friction found in the manuscript—over the choice of ships, past treatment in the royal court, or the insubordination of the "one from Palos" (Martín Alonso Pinzón)—as well as Columbus's bizarre call for crusade in the Holy Land. The omission of these "distracting" points strongly suggests that there was another hand in the editing of the printed editions. And that this hand was probably a royal official, as these points could be construed as undignified or embarrassing to the crown. This suggests that the printing of the Columbus letter, if not directly undertaken by royal command, probably had royal knowledge and approval. Its intent may have been to popularize and advance the Spanish case against the Portuguese claims. As noted before, these were being intensively negotiated in the papal court throughout 1493–94. If so, it is quite possible that Luis de Santangel was precisely that royal official, that he edited the content and oversaw the printing in Spain, and it was Santangel who sent a copy of the edited letter to Gabriel Sanchez who proceeded to disseminate it to his contacts in Italy to be translated into Latin and Italian and printed there. The peculiarities of the printed editions ("Catalanisms" in the spelling, the omission of Isabella) suggest this entire editing, printing and dissemination process was handled from the outset by Aragonese officials—like Santangel and Sanchez—rather than Castilians. The small Spanish editions (and its subsequent disappearance) would be consistent with this thesis. To influence public opinion in Europe, and particularly the Church and the Pope, a Spanish version was not nearly as useful as a Latin one, so there was no purpose of continuing to print the Spanish edition once the Latin one became available. Indeed, there was no point in reprinting the Latin editions either, once the
Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Em ...
was signed in June 1494. Thus, Columbus's letter serves as an early example of the harnessing of the new printing press by the State for propaganda purposes.


Settling the claims

Christopher Columbus was probably correct to send the letter from Lisbon, for shortly after, King John II of Portugal indeed began to outfit a fleet to seize the discovered islands for the
Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kn ...
. The Portuguese king suspected (rightly, as it turns out) that the islands discovered by Columbus lay below the
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
line of the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
(approx. 27°50'), the boundary set by the 1479
Treaty of Alcáçovas The Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) was signed on 4 September 1479 between the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal, on the other side ...
as the area of Portuguese exclusivity (confirmed by the papal bull '' Aeterni regis'' of 1481). Urgent reports on the Portuguese preparations were dispatched to the Spanish court by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia. Ferdinand II dispatched his own emissary, Lope de Herrera, to Lisbon to request the Portuguese to immediately suspend any expeditions to the west Indies until the determination of the location of those islands was settled (and if polite words failed, to threaten). Even before Herrera arrived John II had sent his own emissary, Ruy de Sande, to the Spanish court, reminding the Spanish monarchs that their sailors were not allowed to sail below Canaries latitude, and suggesting all expeditions to the west be suspended. Columbus, of course, was in the middle of preparing for his second journey. Pope Alexander VI (an Aragonese national and friend of Ferdinand II) was brought into the fray to settle the rights to the islands and determine the limits of the competing claims. His first bull on the matter, , dated May 3, 1493, was indecisive. The pope assigned the Crown of Castile "all lands discovered by their envoys" (i.e. Columbus), so long as they are not possessed by any Christian owner (which Columbus's letter confirmed). On the other hand, the Pope also safeguarded the Portuguese claims by confirming their prior treaties and bulls ("no right conferred on any Christian prince is hereby understood as withdrawn or to be withdrawn"). Thus, on his first shot, the pope effectively left the matter unsettled until the determination of the islands' actual geographic location. (Note: although most of the negotiations were masterminded by Ferdinand II, who took a personal interest in the second voyage, the actual official claim of title on the islands belonged to his wife, Queen Isabella I. The rights, treaties and bulls pertain only to the Crown of Castile and Castilian subjects, and ''not'' to the Crown of Aragon or Aragonese subjects) It was apparently soon realized that the islands probably lay below the latitude boundary, as only a little while later, Pope Alexander VI issued a second bull ''
Eximiae devotionis ''Eximiae devotionis'' declared on 3 May 1493 is one of three papal bulls of Pope Alexander VI delivered purporting to grant any and all overseas territories in the west and ocean to kings of Castile and León that were found by the kings of Casti ...
'' (officially dated also May 3, but written c. July 1493), that tried to fix this problem by stealthily suggesting the Portuguese treaty applied to "Africa", and conspicuously omitting mention of the Indies. On his third attempt, in another bull also called , written in the summer and backdated to May 4, 1493, the Pope once again confirmed the Spanish claim on the Indies more explicitly with a
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
line of demarcation granting all lands 100 leagues west of
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
(not merely those discovered by "her envoys") as the exclusive dominion of the Crown of Castile (with no explicit safeguards for prior Portuguese treaties or grants). (There is some confusion whether preceded or followed the second ; it is commonly supposed that the first ("May 3") was drafted in April and received in Spain on May 17, the second ("May 4") drafted in June, and received in Spain by July 19 (a copy was forwarded to Columbus in early August); while ("May 3") is normally assumed written sometime in July. In official time, ''Eximiae'' precedes the second , but in actual time may have actually followed it.) It is uncertain exactly how the printed editions of the Columbus letter influenced this process. The letter reports the islands are located at 26°N which falls just below the Canary latitude, so the letter worked almost in Portugal's favor, and forced the pope into the geographical contortions of confirming Spanish possession without violating prior treaties. However, the increasing strength of the bulls over the summer, when the letter's circulation was at its height, suggests the Spanish case was ultimately helped rather than hurt by the letter. Minutiae over latitude degrees paled in insignificance with the excitement of the new discoveries revealed in the letters. While the Portuguese tried to paint Columbus as merely just another Spanish interloper, little more than a smuggler, illegally trying to trade in their waters, the letters presented him as a great discoverer of new lands and new peoples. The prospect of new souls ready to be converted, emphasized in the letters, and a Spanish crown eager to undertake the expense of that effort, must have swayed more than a few opinions. Frustrated by the pope, John II decided to deal with the Spanish directly. The Portuguese envoys Pero Diaz and
Ruy de Pina Rui (or Ruy) de Pina (1440–1522) was a Portuguese chronicler. Biography Rui (or Ruy) de Pina was a native of Guarda. He acted as secretary of the embassy sent by King John II of Portugal to Castile in the spring of 1482, and in the followin ...
arrived in Barcelona in August, and requested that all expeditions be suspended until the geographical location of the islands was determined. Eager for a ''fait acompli'', Ferdinand II played for time, hoping he could get Columbus out on his second voyage to the Indies before any suspensions were agreed to. As the king wrote Columbus (September 5, 1493), the Portuguese envoys had no clue where the islands were actually located ("no vienen informados de lo que es nuestro"). On September 24, 1493, Christopher Columbus departed on his second voyage to the west Indies, with a massive new fleet. The Pope chimed in with yet another bull on the matter, '' Dudum siquidum'', written in December but officially backdated September 26, 1493, where he went further than before, and gave Spain claim over any and all lands discovered by her envoys sailing west, in whatever hemisphere those lands happened to be. ''Dudum Siquidum'' had been issued with a second voyage in mind—should Columbus indeed reach China or India or even Africa on this trip, the lands discovered would come under the Spanish exclusive sphere. Subsequent negotiations between the crowns of Portugal and Spain proceeded in Columbus's absence. They culminated in the Treaty of Tordesillas partitioning the globe between Spanish and Portuguese spheres of exclusivity at a longitude line 370 leagues west of Cape Verde (about 46°30' W). On the day the treaty was signed, June 7, 1494, Columbus was sailing along the southern shore of Cuba, prodding fruitlessly at that lengthy coast. On June 12, Columbus gathered his crew on Evangelista island (what is now
Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; en, Isle of Youth) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Isl ...
), and had them all swear an oath, before a notary, that Cuba was not an island but indeed the mainland of Asia and that China could be reached overland from there.


Editions of the letter

There are two known editions of the (Spanish) Letter to Santangel, and at least six editions of the (Latin) Letter to Gabriel Sanchez published in the first year (1493), plus an additional rendering of the narrative into Italian verse by Giuliano Dati (which went through five editions). Other than the Italian verse, the first foreign language translation was into German in 1497. In all, seventeen editions of the letter were published between 1493 and 1497. A manuscript copy of the letter to the Catholic monarchs, found in 1985, remained unprinted until recently.


Letter to Luis de Santangel (Spanish)

Written and printed in Spanish, usually assumed to be from the copy of the letter sent by Columbus to Luis de Santángel, the ''Escribano de Racion'' of the Crown of Aragon, although there is no addressee named (the letter is addressed merely to "Señor"). * 1. Barcelona edition, untitled, in
folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
, undated and printer unnamed. The existence of certain
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
-influenced spellings it was from the outset presumed to be probably published in Barcelona. Some early historians assumed the printer to be Johan Rosenbach, but he has been more recently identified as probably Pere Posa of Barcelona on the basis of typographic similarity. The date of the edition is estimated to be late March or early April, 1493. Only one copy from this edition has ever been found. It was discovered in 1889, in the catalog of the antiquarian dealer J. Maisonneuve in Paris, and was sold for the exorbitant price of 65,000
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
s to the British collector Bernard Quaritch. After publishing a facsimile edition and translation in 1893, Quaritch sold the original copy to the Lenox Library, which is now part of the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...
, where it remains. * 2. Ambrosian edition, in
quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
, date, printer name and location are unspecified. It is sometimes assumed that it was printed sometime after 1493 in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
or somewhere in Italy, because of the frequent interpolation of the letters ''i'' and ''j'' (common in Italian, but not in Spanish); but others insisted it was printed in Spain; a more recent analysis has suggested it was printed in
Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
around 1497 by Pedro Giraldi and Miguel de Planes (the first Italian, the second Catalan, which may explain the interpolation). Only one copy is known, discovered in 1856 at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
. The Ambrosian letter was originally in the possession of Baron Pietro Custodi until it was deposited, along with the rest of his papers, at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in 1852 after his death. After its discovery, a transcription was published in 1863, and a facsimile in 1866. Neither of these editions are mentioned by any writers before the 19th century, nor have any other copies been found, which suggests they were very small printings, and that the publication of Columbus's letter may have been suppressed in Spain by royal command. The existence of the Latin letter to Gabriel Sanchez was known long before the existence of the Spanish letter to Santangel. The Latin editions do not contain the codicil about the letter being sent to the "Escribano de Racion", so there was hardly a trace of its existence before the first copy (the Ambrosian edition) was found in 1856. In retrospect, however, some hints are given earlier. Columbus's son Ferdinand Columbus, in making an account of his own library, listed a tract with the title ''Lettera Enviada al Escribano de Racion a 1493: en Catalan''. This may have been a reference to the Barcelona edition of Columbus's letter to Santangel. It is likely that Andrés Bernáldez, chaplain of Seville, may have had or seen a copy (manuscript or printed) of the Spanish letter to Santangel, and paraphrased it in his own ''Historia de los Reyes Católicos'' (written at the end of the 15th century). The Spanish historian Martín Fernández de Navarrete was the first to definitively find a copy of the Spanish letter in the royal archives of Simancas and to identify Luis de Santangel as the recipient. Navarrete published a transcription of the Spanish letter in his famous 1825 ''Colección'',. However, Navarrete's transcription is not based on an original 15th-century edition (which he never claimed to have seen) but rather on a hand-written copy made in 1818 by Tomás González, an archivist at Simancas. Gonzalez's copy has since been lost, and exists now only in the Navarrete transcription. It is uncertain exactly what edition or manuscript González copied (although some of the tell-tale mistakes of the Barcelona edition are repeated). The Brazilian historian
Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Viscount of Porto Seguro (February 17, 1816 – June 26, 1878), was a Brazilian diplomat and historian. He is the patron of the 39th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He is considered "the father of modern ...
found another hand-written copy of the Spanish letter to Santangel among the papers of the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca in
Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
. This copy contains a significantly different ending, "''Fecha en la carabela, sobre la Isla de S.a Maria, 18 de Febrero de 93''." ("written on the caravel, on the island of Santa Maria, 18 February 1493"). The date (February 18) and the identification of the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
island of Santa Maria (rather than the Canaries) are anomalies not normally found in other editions of the Letter to Santangel. It also lacks the Lisbon post-script and the note about it being sent to the Escriban de la Racion. The Cuenca copy also had a cover title "''Carta del Almirante á D. Gabriel Sanches''". As a result, Varnhagen originally conjectured this may very well have been the original Spanish copy that was translated by Leander de Cosco into Latin, and found its way to Rome. However, modern historians believe this is in fact a later copy of the Barcelona or Ambrosian editions, and that the anomalies exist because the copyist endeavored to correct mistakes and errors in the Spanish letter in light of the later editions and published histories of the Indies by Peter Martyr, Ferdinand Columbus, etc. The original Cuenca manuscript used by Varnhagen has since disappeared. It is generally accepted that the Barcelona edition is prior to the Ambrosian one. The Barcelona edition is replete with small errors (e.g., "veinte" instead of "xxxiii" days) and
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
-style spellings (which Columbus would not have used), suggesting it was carelessly copied and hurriedly printed. The Ambrosian edition seems to correct most of these mistakes, although it also makes a few new mistakes of its own. Navarrete's transcription makes some of the same mistakes as the Barcelona edition (e.g. veinte instead of xxxiii), but most of the spellings are in proper Castilian, although it is uncertain how much of this was in the original, and how much was massaged by Gonzalez or Navarrete in their transcriptions. While all the Spanish editions are very close to each other, historians believe they are not merely corrected reprints of each other, but that all derive independently (or at least in consultation with) an unknown prior edition or manuscript. Because of the "Almirante" signature and other clues, it is believed that all the Spanish editions are probably indirect, that is, that they were probably not directly copied from Columbus's original manuscript letter, but are themselves copies of earlier unknown copies or editions. The simplicity and rarity of the original printed editions of the Letter to Santangel (only two copies are known to exist) has made it appealing to forgers, and there have been repeated attempts to sell fake copies of the letter to libraries and collectors. In one famous case, an Italian forger attempted to sell a copy to the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...
. When the librarians refused to buy it, the forger angrily tore up the volume in front of them and stormed out. The librarians fished the pieces out of the wastepaper basket and put it back together; it is currently held as a curiosity by the New York Public Library.


Letter to Gabriel Sanchez (Latin)

The first printed edition of the Latin translation of Columbus's letter was probably printed in Rome by the printer Stephen Plannck, ca. May 1493. Most other early Latin editions are reprints of that edition. The title is given as ''De Insulis Indiae supra Gangem nuper inventis'' ("Of the islands of India beyond the
Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, recently discovered"), and contains a prologue noting that it was sent by Christopher Columbus to "Raphael Sanxis" (later editions correct it to "Gabriel Sanchez"), the
treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...
of the Crown of Aragon. Its opening salutation hails Ferdinand II of Aragon (later editions also add mention of Isabella I of Castile) and identifies the translator as the notary "Aliander de Cosco" (later editions correct it to "Leander de Cosco"), noting that he finished translating it on April 29, 1493 ("third
calends The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a ...
of May"). In full, the opening of the first Roman edition reads: :: ''Epistola Christofori Colom: cui (a)etas nostra multum debet: de Insulis Indi(a)e supra Gangem nuper inventis, ad quas perquirendas, octavo antea mense, auspicijs et (a)ere invictissimi Fernandi Hispaniarum Regis missus fuerat: ad Magnificum d(omi)n(u)m Raphaelem Sanxis: eiusdem serenissi Regis Thesaurarium missa: quam nobilis ac litteratus vir Aliander de Cosco ab Hispano ideomate in latinum convertit: tertio kal(enda)s Maii, M.cccc.xciii, Pontificatus Alexandri Sexti, Anno primo.'' :: ("Letter of Christopher Columbus, to whom our age is much indebted, about the islands of India beyond the Ganges recently discovered, and to explore which he had been sent eight months before under the auspices and at the expense of the most invincible Ferdinand, King of Spain; to the magnificent lord Raphael Sanxis, Treasurer to the Most Serene King, which the noble and literate notary Aliander de Cosco converted from the Spanish language into Latin, third calends of May, 1493, during the first year of the pontificate of Alexander VI.") The corrections (Ferdinand & Isabella, Gabriel Sanchez, Leander de Cosco) were undertaken in the Second and Third Roman editions later that same year, possibly as a result of complaints by Castilian emissaries in Rome who felt their Queen (and spellings) were given short-shrift by the Aragonese. All the Latin editions omit the endings found in the Spanish edition to Santangel—i.e., they omit the sign-off of being written on board ship in the Canaries, the postscript about the storm and days it took to return and the codicil about the letter being sent to the Escribano de Racion and the Catholic monarchs. Instead, it simply signs off "Lisbon, the day before the
Ides of March The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...
" ("''Ulisbone, pridie Idus Martii''", that is, on May 14). Columbus's signature is given as "Christoforus Colom Oceanice classis Præfectus" ("Christopher Columbus, Prefect (or Admiral) of the Ocean fleet"). At the end, there is a verse epigram in honor of Ferdinand II written by Leonardus de Corbaria, Bishop of Monte Peloso. For a long time, historians believed the Latin edition was based on the copy of the letter sent by Columbus to the Catholic monarchs (as mentioned at the end of the Spanish letter to Santangel), and that Columbus's address to the treasurer Gabriel Sanchez was merely a courtly formality. According to this account, Columbus's original letter was read (in Spanish) before the monarchs then holding court in Barcelona, and then Ferdinand II of Aragon (or his treasurer Gabriel Sanchez) ordered it translated into Latin by the notary Leander de Cosco, who completed the translation by April 29, 1493 (as noted in the prologue). The manuscript was subsequently carried (or received) by the Neapolitan prelate Leonardus de Corbaria, Bishop of Monte Peloso, who took it to Rome and arranged for its printing there with Stephanus Plannck, ca. May 1493. The Roman edition was subsequently carried into Central Europe and reprinted in Basel (twice, 1493 and 1494), Paris (three times in 1493) and
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
(once, 1493). A corrected Roman edition was printed by two different publishers in late 1493—one by Stephen Plannck again, the other by Frank Silber (known as Argenteus). * 3. First Roman edition, ''De insulis indiae supra Gangem nuper inventis'', undated and unnamed, but assumed printed by Stephanus Plannck in Rome (on basis of typographical similarity) probably May 1493. Plain text, bereft of the ornaments or stamps typical of the time, it has the appearance of being hurriedly printed, and was probably the first of the Latin editions. Opening salutation hails only Ferdinand II of Aragon ("invitissimi Fernandi Hispaniarum Regis"), conspicuously neglecting Isabella I of Castile; it refers to addressee as "Raphael Sanxis" (wrong first name, surname spelled in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
), and to the translator as "Aliander de Cosco". It was published in
quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
, four leaves (34 lines per page). * 4. First Basel edition, ''De Insulis inventis''. It is the only early edition missing the phrase "Indie supra Gangem" in the title, substituting instead "''Insulis in mari Indico''" ("islands in the Indian Sea"). Otherwise, it seems to be a reprint of the first Roman edition (hails only Ferdinand II, spells Raphael Sanxis, Aliander de Cosco). It is the first edition with illustrative
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
s – eight of them. Two of the woodcuts ("Oceana Classis" and the Indian canoe/galley) were plagiarized from earlier woodcuts for a different book. This edition is undated, without printer name nor location given, but it is often assumed to have been printed in Basel largely because a later edition (1494) printed in that city used the same woodcuts. Some have speculated the printer of this edition to have been Johannes Besicken or Bergmann de Olpe. It was published in
octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
, ten leaves (27 lines per page). * 5. First Paris edition, ''Epistola de insulis repertis de novo'', directly from the first Roman edition (hails only Ferdinand II, Raphael Sanxis, Aliander de Cosco). Title page has woodcut of angel appearing unto shepherds. Undated and printer unnamed, but location given as "''Impressa parisius in campo gaillardi''" (Champ-Gaillard in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, France). The printer is unnamed, but a later reprint that same year identifies him as Guyot Marchant. In quarto, four leaves (39 lines per page). * 6. Second Paris edition, ''Epistola de insulis de novo repertis'' probably by Guyot Marchant of Paris. Straight reprint of first Paris edition. * 7. Third Paris edition, ''Epistola de insulis noviter repertis''. Reprint of prior Paris edition, but this one has large printer's device on the back of the title page, identifying Guyot Marchant as the printer (ergo the deduction that the two prior editions were also by him). * 8. Antwerp edition, ''De insulis indi(a)e supra Gangem nuper inve(n)tis'' by Thierry Martins in
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, 1493, directly from first Roman edition. * 9. Second Roman edition, ''De insulis indi(a)e supra Gangem nuper inve(n)tis'', undated and printer unnamed, assumed to be again by Stephen Plannck in Rome because of typographic similarity (identical to first edition). This is a corrected edition, presumably put out in late 1493; the salutation now refers to both Ferdinand and Isabella ("invictissimorum Fernandi et Helisabet Hispaniarum Regum"), addressee's name given as "Gabriel Sanchis" (correct first name, surname now in half-Catalan, half-Castilian spelling) and the translator as "Leander de Cosco" (rather than Aliander). It is published in quarto, four leaves (33 lines per page). * 10. Third Roman edition, ''De insulis indi(a)e supra Gangem nuper inve(n)tis'' by the Roman printer Franck Silber (who was known as "Eucharius Argenteus"). It is the first edition to be explicitly dated and inscribed with the printer's name: the colophon reads "''Impressit Rome Eucharius Argenteus Anno dni M.cccc.xciij''". It is also a corrected edition: it refers to addressee as "Gabriel Sanches" (Castilian name), the translator as "Leander de Cosco" and salutes both Ferdinand & Isabella. It is uncertain whether this Silber edition precedes or follows Plannck's second edition. It is published in three unnumbered leaves, one blank (40 lines to the page). * 11. Second Basel edition, ''De insulis nuper in mar Indico repertis'', dated and named, printed by Johann Bergmann in Basel, 21 April 1494. This is a reprint of the first Basel edition (uses four of the six woodcuts). This edition was published as an appendix to a prose drama, ''Historia Baetica'' by Carolus Verardus, a play about the 1492
conquest of Granada The Granada War ( es, Guerra de Granada) was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ...
.


Italian verse and German translations

The Latin letter to Gabriel Sanchez, either the first or second Roman editions, was translated into Italian
ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The o ...
by Giuliano Dati, a popular poet of the time, at the request of Giovanni Filippo dal Legname, secretary to Ferdinand II. The first edition of the Italian verse edition was published in June 1493, and went quickly through an additional four editions, suggesting this was probably the most popular form of the Columbus letter known at least to the Italian public. A translation of the Latin letter into German prose was undertaken in 1497. * 12. First Italian verse edition, , First edition of the Italian verse version by Giuliano Dati, published by Eucharius Silber in Rome, and explicitly dated 15 June 1493. * 13. Second Italian verse edition, , revised verse translation by Giuliano Dati, printed in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
by Laurentius de Morganius and Johann Petri, dated 26 October 1493. It has a famous woodcut on its title page, which was later re-used for a 1505 edition of Amerigo Vespucci's ''Letter to Soderini''. * 14. Third Italian verse edition, , reprint of Dati verse edition. Undated and printing location unknown. * 15. Fourth Italian verse edition, , reprint of Dati verse, by Morganius and Petri in Florence, dated 26 October 1495. * 16. Fifth Italian verse edition, , reprint of Dati verse, undated and unnamed (post-1495), lacks title woodcut. * 17. German translation, , translated into
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
in
Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...
, printed by Bartholomeus Kistler, dated 30 September 1497.


Italian translation fragments

There are three manuscripts of incomplete attempts by Italian authors to translate the narrative Spanish (or perhaps Latin) letter into Italian prose, probably within 1493. The three fragments were first published by Cesare de Lollis in the ''Raccolta Colombiana'' of 1894. * 18. First Italian fragment manuscript translation into Italian, held at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
. The Italian translator's note claims this to be a copy of a letter written by Columbus "to certain counsellors" ("ad certi consieri") in Spain, and forwarded by "the treasurer" (i.e. Gabriel Sanchez) to his brother, "Juan Sanchez" (named in the text), a merchant in Florence. * 19. Second Italian fragment manuscript fragment held at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence. The Italian translator simply notes that it is a copy of the "letter that came from Spain" ("copia della letera venuta di Spagna"). There is a close connection between this Florentine fragment and the first Latin edition, suggesting one is derived from the other, or they were both using the same Spanish document. * 20. Third Italian fragment manuscript fragment held also by the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence. It contains no translator's notes about its origin or provenance. It might be worth noting here that the first known
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
translation appeared in
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
in 1559, in a volume by Charles Fontaine. The first known English translation appeared in the ''
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'' ...
'' in 1816.


Letter to the Catholic monarchs (Libro Copiador)

The existence of this manuscript letter was unknown until it was discovered in 1985. The manuscript letter was found as part of a collection known as the ''Libro Copiador'', a book containing manuscript copies of nine letters written by Columbus to the Catholic Monarchs, with dates ranging from March 4, 1493 to October 15, 1495, copied by the hand of a writer in the late 16th century. Seven of these nine letters were previously unknown. Its discovery was announced in 1985 by an antiquarian book dealer in Tarragona. It was acquired in 1987 by the Spanish government and is currently deposited at the Archivo General de Indias in
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...
. A facsimile edition was published in Rumeu de Armas (1989). A transcription and English translation can be found in Zamora (1993). Although scholars have tentatively embraced the ''Libro Copiador'' as probably authentic, it is still in the early stages of careful and critical scrutiny, and should be treated a bit cautiously. The first letter in the copybook purports to be a copy of the original letter sent by Christopher Columbus to the Catholic Monarchs from Lisbon announcing the discovery. If authentic, it is prior to the Barcelona edition, indeed it precedes all known versions of the letter.Davidson (1997: p. 197) It contains significant differences from both the Spanish letter to Santangel and the Latin letter to Sanchez—notably more details about Indian reports, including previously-unmentioned native names of islands (specifically: "Cuba", "Jamaica", "Boriquen" and "Caribo"), and a strange proposal to use the revenues from the Indies to launch a crusade to conquer Jerusalem. It omits some of the more economic-oriented details of the printed editions. If authentic, this letter practically solves the "Sanchez problem": it confirms that the Latin letter to Gabriel Sanchez is ''not'' a translation of the letter that the Spanish codicil said Columbus sent to the Monarchs, and strongly suggests that the Sanchez letter is just a Latin translation of the letter Columbus sent to Luis de Santangel.


Thefts, forgeries and return of books

Many of the copies were cloned via forgery from stolen copies from various libraries, including the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
. These were sold to collectors and other libraries, who were innocently duped by the fraud. The Vatican’s copy was returned in January 2020. The forgeries and thefts were the subject of intense international investigations and forensic reports. Other suspected thefts, forgeries and sales are still being examined.


Online editions

* ''The Spanish letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant' Angel, Escribano de Racion of the Kingdom of Aragon, dated 15 February 1493'', 1893 edition, London: Quaritch.
fascimile
an
transcription
of the Barcelona edition of 1493, with Englis
translation
by M.P. Kerney. For an html version of the same letter, se

with Englis

at King's College London. (accessed Feb. 12, 2012). * ''Lettera in lingua spagnuola diretta da Cristoforo Colombo a Luis de Santangel (15 febbrajo 14 marzo 1493), riproddotta a fascimili'', Gerolamo d'Adda, editor, 1866, Milan: Laengner, contains
fascimile
of the Ambrosian edition of the Spanish letter to Santangel. ''Lettere autografe di Cristoforo Colombo nuovamente stampate''. G.Daelli, editor, 1863 (with foreword by Cesare Correnti), Milan: Daelli, contains the firs
transcription
(in Spanish) and a
Italian
translation of the Ambrosian edition. * ''Historia de los Reyes Católicos D. Fernando y Da Isabel: crónica inédita del siglo XV'', 1856 ed., Granada: Zamora, written at the end of the 15th century by Andrés Bernáldez contains what seems like a paraphrasing of Columbus's letter to Santangel, Vol. 1, Ch. CXVIII,
pp. 269–77
. * "Carta del Almirante Cristobal Colon, escrita al Escribano de Racion de los Señores Reyes Catolicos", in ''Colección de los viages y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles desde fines del siglo XV'', Martín Fernández de Navarrete, 1825, vol. 1, Madrid
pp. 167–75
is the first known modern publication of the Spanish letter to Santangel. Navarrete's transcription is based on a copy (now lost) originally copied by Tomas Gonzalez from an unknown edition (also lost) at the royal archives of Simancas in 1818. * ''Primera Epístola del Almirante Don Cristóbal Colón dando cuenta de su gran descubrimiento á D. Gabriel Sánchez, tesorero de Aragón'', edited by "Genaro H. de Volafan" (pseudonym of
Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Viscount of Porto Seguro (February 17, 1816 – June 26, 1878), was a Brazilian diplomat and historian. He is the patron of the 39th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He is considered "the father of modern ...
), 1858, Valencia: Garin. Contains the onl
transcription
of a Spanish manuscript of the letter found by Varnhagen at the Colegio Mayor de Cuencas (manuscript since lost). It is accompanied bilingually by the transcription of the Latin from the third Roman (Silber) edition of 1493. * ''The Latin letter of Columbus: printed in 1493 and announcing the discovery of America'', Bernard Quaritch, editor, 1893, London: contain
fascimile
of the second Roman edition (Plannck) of 1493; no transcription nor English translation provided. * "A Letter addressed to the noble Lord Raphael Sanchez, &tc.", in R.H. Major, editor, 1848, ''Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, with other original documents relating to his four voyages to the New World''. London: Hakluyt,
pp. 1–17
contains bilingually a Latin transcription and English translation of the third Roman (Silber) edition. * "La Lettera dellisole che ha trovato nuovamente il Re Dispagna", Italian verse translation by Giuliano Dati, from Florence edition (October 1493), transcribed (without translation) in R.H. Major (1848
pp. lxxiii–xc
. * "The Columbus Letter: Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea", at the University of Southern Maine
fascimileLatin transcription
and Englis
translation
of the 1494 second Basel edition, with introduction and comments by Matthew H. Edney (1996, rev.2009), at the Osher Map Library, Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine (accessed February 12, 2012). * "Carta a los Reyes de 4 Marzo 1493", Spanis
transcription
and Englis
translation
of the manuscript letter to the Catholic Monarchs, from the ''Libro Copiador'', reproduced in Margarita Zamora (1993) ''Reading Columbus'', Berkeley: University of California press. (online at UC Pres E-Books collection, accessed February 12, 2012).


Notes


Bibliography

* D'Adda, Gerolamo, editor, (1866) ''Lettera in lingua spagnuola diretta da Cristoforo Colombo a Luis de Santangel (15 febbrajo – 14 marzo 1493), riproddotta a fascimili'', Milan: Laengner
online
* Adler, Joseph (1998) "Christopher Columbus's Voyage of Discovery: Jewish and New Christian Elements", ''Midstream''. As foun

accessed February 12, 2012. * Anzovin, Steven (2000) ''
Famous First Facts ''Famous First Facts'' is a book listing "First Happenings, Discoveries and Inventions in the United States". The book's seventh edition (), published in March 2015 — includes more than 8,000 entries on 1,400 pages. The book was originally publi ...
'', New York:
H. W. Wilson Company The H. W. Wilson Company, Inc. is a publisher and indexing company that was founded in 1898 and is located in The Bronx, New York. It provides print and digital content aimed at patrons of public school, college, and professional libraries in bot ...
, * Arranz Márquez, Luis (2006) ''Cristóbal Colón: misterio y grandeza''. Madrid: Marcial Pons. * Bernáldez, Andrés ''Historia de los Reyes Católicos D. Fernando y Da Isabel: crónica inédita del siglo XV'', 1856 ed., Granada: Zamora
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* Las Casas, Bartolomé de (c. 1561) ''Historia de las Indias'', 1875–76 ed., Madrid: Ginest
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* Clough, C. H. (1994) "The New World and the Italian Renaissance", in C. H. Clough and P. E. H. Hair, editors, ''The European Outthrust and Encounter: the first phase c. 1400 – c. 1700: essays in tribute to David Beers Quinn on his 85th birthday''. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press. pp. 291–328. * Columbus, Ferdinand (1892) ''Historia del almirante Don Cristobal Colon en la cual se da particular y verdadera relacion de su vida y de sus hechos, y del descubrimiento de las Indias Occidentales, llamadas Nuevo-mundo'', 1892 edition, Madrid: Minnesa. 2 volumes
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* Correnti, Cesare (1863) "Discorso" in G. Daelli, editor, ''Lettere autografe di Cristoforo Colombo nuovamente stampate''. Milan: Daelli
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* Curtis, William Eleroy (1893) ''The Relics of Columbus: an illustrated description of the historical collection in the monastery of La Rabida''. Washington, DC: Lowdermilk
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* Davenport, F. G. (1917), editor, ''European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its dependencies to 1648'', Washington: Carnegie Institution
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* Davies, Hugh W. (1911) ''Bernhard von Breydenback and his Journey to the Holy Land, 1483–4''. London: Leighto
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* Davidson, Miles H. (1997) ''Columbus Then and Now, a life re-examined''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Diaz-Trechuelo, Lourdes (2006) ''Cristóbal Colón'', 2nd ed. (1st. ed. 1992), Madrid: Palabra. * Edney, Matthew H. (1996, rev.2009), "The Columbus Letter: The Diffusion of Columbus's Letter through Europe, 1493–1497
online
at the Osher Map Library, Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine (accessed February 12, 2012). * Harrisse, Henri (1865) ''Notes on Columbus''. New York: Barlow. * Harrisse, Henri (1866) ''Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima: a description of works relating to America published between the years 1492 and 1551''. New York: Philes
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* Henige, David (1994) "Finding Columbus: Implications of a newly discovered text". In C. H. Clough and P. E. H. Hair, editors, ''The European Outthrust and Encounter: the first phase c. 1400 – c. 1700 : essays in tribute to David Beers Quinn on his 85th birthday''. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press
pp. 141–66.
* Ife, Barry W. (1992) "Introduction to the Letters from America", King's College London

(accessed February 12, 2012). * Jane, Cecil (1930) "The Letter of Columbus Announcing the Success of his First Voyage", ''Hispanic American Historical Review'', Vol. 10 (1), pp. 33–50. * Josephy, A. M. (1968) ''The Indian Heritage of America'' 1991, ed., New York: Houghton Mifflin. * Lea, Henry Charles (1906) ''A History of the Inquisition in Spain''. 4 volumes, New York: Macmillan
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* De Lollis, Cesare (1894), editor, ''Scritti di Cristoforo Colombo'', vol. 1, part 1, of ''Raccolta di Documenti e Studi pubblicati dalla Reale Commissione Colombiana pel quarto Centenario della scoperta dell'America''. Rome: Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione. * Major, Richard H. (1848) ''Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, with other original documents relating to his four voyages to the New World''. London: Hakluyt
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* Morison, S. E. (2007) ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus''. Read Books. (1st. ed. 1942, Boston: Little Brown). * March, K. and K. Passman (1993) "The Amazon Myth and Latin America" in W. Haase and M. Reinhold, editors, ''The Classical Tradition and the Americas''. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 285–338. * Muñoz, Juan Bautista (1793) ''Historia del Nuevo Mundo'', Madrid: Ibarra
v. 1
* Navarrete, Martín Fernández de (1825–37) ''Colección de los viages y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles desde fines del siglo XV: con varios documentos inéditos concernientes á la historia de la marina castellana y de los establecimientos españoles en Indias'', 4 vols., Madrid: Imprensa Rea
v.1
(1825)
v.2v. 3
(1829) * Quaritch, Bernard (1893) "Preface" in ''The Spanish letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant' Angel, Escribano de Racion of the Kingdom of Aragon, dated 15 February 1493'', London: Quaritch
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* Ramos Pérez, Demetrio (1983) ''La carta de Colón sobre el descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo''. Diputación provincial de Granada * Ramos Pérez, Demetrio (1986) ''La primera noticia de América''. Valladolid: Casa-Museo de Colón. * Rumeu de Armas, A., editor, (1989) ''Libro Copiador de Cristóbal Colón: correspondencia inédita con los Reyes Católicos sobre los viajes a América, fascimil y transcripcion''. 2 volumes. Madrid: Testimonio. * Sabin, J. (1871) ''Bibliotheca Americana: A dictionary of books relating to America, from its discovery to the present time'', Volume 4
pp. 274–78
* Sanz López, Carlos. (1959) ''El gran secreto de la Carta de Colón: crítica histórica y otras adiciónes a la Bibliotheca Americana vetustissima''. Madrid: V. Suarez * Sanz López, Carlos (1961) ''La Carta de D. Cristobal Colón; anunciando el descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo, 15 febrero–14 marzo de 1493''. Madrid: Gráficas Yagües. * Thatcher, J. B. (1903) ''Christopher Columbus: his life, his works, his remains, as revealed by original printed and manuscript records'', 2 vols, New York: Putnam
v. 2
* Uchamany, E. A. (1993) "The Periodization of the History of the New Christians and Crypto-Jews in Spanish America" in Y. K. Stillman and G. K. Zucker, editors, ''New Horizons in Sephardic Studies''. Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 109–36. * Varnhagen, F. A. (using pseudonym "Genaro H. de Volafan"), editor (1858), ''Primera Epístola del Almirante Don Cristóbal Colón dando cuenta de su gran descubrimiento á D. Gabriel Sánchez, tesorero de Aragón''. Valencia: Garin
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* Varela, Consuelo, ed. (1986) ''Cristobal Colon: Los cuatro viajes, testamento.'' Madrid. * Winsor, J. (1891) Christopher Columbus and how he received and imparted the spirit of discovery. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin
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* Zamora, Margarita (1993) ''Reading Columbus''. Berkeley: University of California Pres
online
{{Authority control 1493 documents 15th-century documents Document theft Ferdinand II of Aragon Historiography Incunabula Isabella I of Castile Letters (message) Library management Works by Christopher Columbus