By Justin Winsor.
NARRATIVE AND CRITICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA.
With Bibliographical and Descriptive Essays on its
Historical Sources and Authorities. Profusely
illustrated with portraits, maps, facsimiles, etc.
Edited by JUSTIN WINSOR, Librarian of Harvard
University, with the coöperation of a Committee
from the Massachusetts Historical Society, and with
the aid of other learned Societies. In eight royal
8vo volumes. Each volume, _net_, $5.50; sheep,
_net_, $6.50; half morocco, _net_, $7.50.
(_Sold only by subscription for the entire set._)
READER'S HANDBOOK OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
16mo, $1.25.
WAS SHAKESPEARE SHAPLEIGH?
16mo, rubricated parchment paper, 75 cents.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
With portrait and maps. 8vo.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY,
BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
[Illustration: BEHAIM, 1492.]
[Illustration: AMERICA, 1892.]
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
AND HOW HE RECEIVED AND
IMPARTED THE SPIRIT
OF DISCOVERY
BY
JUSTIN WINSOR
They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do business in great waters, these
see the works of the Lord and his
wonders in the deep.--_Psalms_, cvii. 23, 24
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1891
Copyright, 1891,
BY JUSTIN WINSOR.
_All rights reserved._
_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A._
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
To FRANCIS PARKMAN, LL.D.,
THE HISTORIAN OF NEW FRANCE.
DEAR PARKMAN:--
You and I have not followed the maritime peoples of western Europe in
planting and defending their flags on the American shores without
observing the strange fortunes of the Italians, in that they have
provided pioneers for those Atlantic nations without having once secured
in the New World a foothold for themselves.
When Venice gave her Cabot to England and Florence bestowed Verrazano
upon France, these explorers established the territorial claims of their
respective and foster motherlands, leading to those contrasts and
conflicts which it has been your fortune to illustrate as no one else
has.
When Genoa gave Columbus to Spain and Florence accredited her Vespucius
to Portugal, these adjacent powers, whom the Bull of Demarcation would
have kept asunder in the new hemisphere, established their rival races
in middle and southern America, neighboring as in the Old World; but
their contrasts and conflicts have never had so worthy a historian as
you have been for those of the north.
The beginnings of their commingled history I have tried to relate in the
present work, and I turn naturally to associate in it the name of the
brilliant historian of FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA with that of
your obliged friend,
[Illustration: Justin Winsor]
CAMBRIDGE, _June, 1890_.
CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
SOURCES, AND THE GATHERERS OF THEM 1
ILLUSTRATIONS: Manuscript of Columbus, 2; the Genoa Custodia, 5;
Columbus's Letter to the Bank of St. George, 6; Columbus's
Annotations on the _Imago Mundi_, 8; First Page, Columbus's
First Letter, Latin edition (1493), 16; Archivo de Simancas, 24.
CHAPTER II.
BIOGRAPHERS AND PORTRAITISTS 30
ILLUSTRATIONS: Page of the Giustiniani Psalter, 31; Notes of
Ferdinand Columbus on his Books, 42; Las Casas, 48; Roselly de
Lorgues, 53; St. Christopher, a Vignette on La Cosa's Map (1500),
62; Earliest Engraved Likeness of Columbus in Jovius, 63; the
Florence Columbus, 65; the Yañez Columbus, 66; a Reproduction of
the Capriolo Cut of Columbus, 67; De Bry's Engraving of Columbus,
68; the Bust on the Tomb at Havana, 69.
CHAPTER III.
THE ANCESTRY AND HOME OF COLUMBUS 71
CHAPTER IV.
THE UNCERTAINTIES OF THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS 79
ILLUSTRATIONS: Drawing ascribed to Columbus, 80; Benincasa's Map
(1476), 81; Ship of the Fifteenth Century, 82.
CHAPTER V.
THE ALLUREMENTS OF PORTUGAL 85
ILLUSTRATIONS: Part of the Laurentian Portolano, 87; Map of
Andrea Bianco, 89; Prince Henry, the Navigator, 93; Astrolabes
of Regiomontanus, 95, 96; Sketch Map of African Discovery, 98;
Fra Mauro's World-Map, 99; Tomb of Prince Henry at Batalha,
100; Statue of Prince Henry at Belem, 101.
CHAPTER VI.
COLUMBUS IN PORTUGAL 103
ILLUSTRATIONS: Toscanelli's Map restored, 110; Map of Eastern
Asia, with Old and New Names, 113; Catalan Map of Eastern Asia
(1375), 114; Marco Polo, 115; Albertus Magnus, 120; the Laon
Globe, 123; Oceanic Currents, 130; Tables of Regiomontanus
(1474-1506), 132; Map of the African Coast (1478), 133; Martin
Behaim, 134.
CHAPTER VII.
WAS COLUMBUS IN THE NORTH? 135
ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Olaus Magnus (1539), 136; Map of Claudius
Clavus (1427), 141; Bordone's Map (1528), 142; Map of Sigurd
Stephanus (1570), 145.
CHAPTER VIII.
COLUMBUS LEAVES PORTUGAL FOR SPAIN 149
ILLUSTRATIONS: Portuguese Mappemonde (1490), 152; Père Juan
Perez de Marchena, 155; University of Salamanca, 162; Monument
to Columbus at Genoa, 163; Ptolemy's Map of Spain (1482), 165;
Cathedral of Seville, 171; Cathedral of Cordoba, 172.
CHAPTER IX.
THE FINAL AGREEMENT AND THE FIRST VOYAGE, 1492 178
ILLUSTRATIONS: Behaim's Globe (1492), 186, 187; Doppelmayer's
Reproduction of this Globe, 188, 189; the actual America in
Relation to Behaim's Geography, 190; Ships of Columbus's Time,
192, 193; Map of the Canary Islands, 194; Map of the Routes of
Columbus, 196; of his track in 1492, 197; Map of the Agonic
Line, 199; Lapis Polaris Magnes, 200; Map of Polar Regions by
Mercator (1509), 202; Map of the Landfall of Columbus, 210;
Columbus's Armor, 211; Maps of the Bahamas (1601 and modern),
212, 213.
CHAPTER X.
AMONG THE ISLANDS AND THE RETURN VOYAGE 218
ILLUSTRATION: Indian Beds, 222.
CHAPTER XI.
COLUMBUS IN SPAIN AGAIN; MARCH TO SEPTEMBER, 1493 243
ILLUSTRATIONS: The Arms of Columbus, 250; Pope Alexander VI.,
253; Crossbow-Maker, 258; Clock-Maker, 260.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SECOND VOYAGE, 1493-1494 264
ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Guadaloupe, Marie Galante, and Dominica,
267; Cannibal Islands, 269.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SECOND VOYAGE, CONTINUED, 1494 284
ILLUSTRATION: Mass on Shore, 298.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SECOND VOYAGE, CONTINUED, 1494-1496 303
ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of
the Native Divisions of Española, 306; Map of Spanish
Settlements in Española, 321.
CHAPTER XV.
IN SPAIN, 1496-1498. DA GAMA, VESPUCIUS, CABOT 325
LLUSTRATIONS: Ferdinand of Aragon, 328; Bartholomew Columbus, 329;
Vasco Da Gama, 334; Map of South Africa (1513), 335; Earliest
Representation of South American Natives, 336.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE THIRD VOYAGE, 1498-1500 347
ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of the Gulf of Paria, 353; Pre-Columbian
Mappemonde, restored, 357; Ramusio's Map of Española, 369;
La Cosa's Map (1500), 380, 381; Ribero's Map of the Antilles
(1529), 383; Wytfliet's Cuba, 384, 385.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE DEGRADATION AND DISHEARTENMENT OF COLUMBUS (1500) 388
ILLUSTRATION: Santo Domingo, 391.
CHAPTER XVIII.
COLUMBUS AGAIN IN SPAIN, 1500-1502 407
ILLUSTRATIONS: First Page of the _Mundus Novus_, 411; Map of
the Straits of Belle Isle, 413; Manuscript of Gaspar Cortereal,
414; of Miguel Cortereal, 416; the Cantino Map, 419.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE FOURTH VOYAGE, 1502-1504 437
ILLUSTRATIONS: Bellin's Map of Honduras, 443; of Veragua, 446.
CHAPTER XX.
COLUMBUS'S LAST YEARS. DEATH AND CHARACTER 477
ILLUSTRATIONS: House where Columbus died, 490; Cathedral at Santo
Domingo, 493; Statue of Columbus at Santo Domingo, 495.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE DESCENT OF COLUMBUS'S HONORS 513
ILLUSTRATIONS: Pope Julius II., 517; Charles the Fifth, 519;
Ruins of Diego Colon's House, 521.
APPENDIX.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL RESULTS 529
ILLUSTRATIONS: Ptolemy, 530; Map by Donis (1482), 531; Ruysch's
Map (1508), 532; the so-called Admiral's Map (1513), 534;
Münster's Map (1532), 535; Title-Page of the _Globus Mundi_,
352; of Eden's _Treatyse of the Newe India_, 537; Vespucius,
539; Title of the _Cosmographiæ Introductio_, 541; Map in
Ptolemy (1513), 544, 545; the Tross Gores, 547; the Hauslab
Globe, 548; the Nordenskiöld Gores, 549; Map by Apianus (1520),
550; Schöner's Globe (1515), 551; Frisius's Map (1522), 552;
Peter Martyr's Map (1511), 557; Ponce de Leon, 558; his tracks
on the Florida Coast, 559; Ayllon's Map, 561; Balboa, 563;
Grijalva, 566; Globe in Schöner's _Opusculum_, 567; Garay's
Map of the Gulf of Mexico, 568; Cortes's Map of the Gulf of
Mexico, 569; the Maiollo Map (1527), 570; the Lenox Globe, 571;
Schöner's Globe (1520), 572; Magellan, 573; Magellan's Straits
by Pizafetta, 575; Modern Map of the Straits, 576; Freire's Map
(1546), 578; Sylvanus's Map in Ptolemy (1511), 579; Stobnieza's
Map, 580; the Alleged Da Vinci Sketch-Map, 582; Reisch's Map
(1515), 583; Pomponius Mela's World-Map, 584; Vadianus, 585;
Apianus, 586; Schöner, 588; Rosenthal or Nuremberg Gores, 590;
the Martyr-Oviedo Map (1534), 592, 593; the Verrazano Map, 594;
Sketch of Agnese's Map (1536), 595; Münster's Map (1540), 596,
597; Michael Lok's Map (1582), 598; John White's Map, 599;
Robert Thorne's Map (1527), 600; Sebastian Münster, 602;
House and Library of Ferdinand Columbus, 604; Spanish Map (1527),
605; the Nancy Globe, 606, 607; Map of Orontius Finæus (1532),
608; the same, reduced to Mercator's projection, 609; Cortes,
610; Castillo's California, 611; Extract from an old Portolano
of the northeast Coast of North America, 613; Homem's Map (1558),
614; Ziegler's Schondia, 615; Ruscelli's Map (1544), 616; Carta
Marina (1548), 617; Myritius's Map (1590), 618; Zaltière's Map
(1566), 619; Porcacchi's Map (1572), 620; Mercator's Globe
(1538), 622, 623; Münster's America (1545), 624; Mercator's
Gores (1541), reduced to a plane projection, 625; Sebastian
Cabot's Mappemonde (1544), 626; Medina's Map (1544), 628, 629;
Wytfliet's America (1597), 630, 631; the Cross-Staff, 632; the
Zeni Map, 634, 635; the Map in the Warsaw Codex (1467), 636,
637; Mercator's America (1569), 638; Portrait of Mercator,
639; of Ortelius, 640; Map by Ortelius (1570), 641; Sebastian
Cabot, 642; Frobisher, 643; Frobisher's Chart (1578), 644;
Francis Drake, 645; Gilbert's Map (1576), 647; the Back-Staff,
648; Luke Fox's Map of the Arctic Regions (1635), 651;
Hennepin's Map of Jesso, 653; Domina Farrer's Map (1651), 654,
655; Buache's Theory of North American Geography (1752), 656;
Map of Bering's Straits, 657; Map of the Northwest Passage, 659.
INDEX 661
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
CHAPTER I.
SOURCES, AND THE GATHERERS OF THEM.
In considering the sources of information, which are original, as
distinct from those which are derivative, we must place first in
importance the writings of Columbus himself. We may place next the
documentary proofs belonging to private and public archives.
[Sidenote: His prolixity.]
Harrisse points out that Columbus, in his time, acquired such a popular
reputation for prolixity that a court fool of Charles the Fifth linked
the discoverer of the Indies with Ptolemy as twins in the art of
blotting. He wrote as easily as people of rapid impulses usually do,
when they are not restrained by habits of orderly deliberation. He has
left us a mass of jumbled thoughts and experiences, which,
unfortunately, often perplex the historian, while they of necessity aid
him.
[Sidenote: His writings.]
Ninety-seven distinct pieces of writing by the hand of Columbus either
exist or are known to have existed. Of such, whether memoirs, relations,
or letters, sixty-four are preserved in their entirety. These include
twenty-four which are wholly or in part in his own hand. All of them
have been printed entire, except one which is in the Biblioteca
Colombina, in Seville, the _Libro de las Proficias_, written apparently
between 1501 and 1504, of which only part is in Columbus's own hand. A
second document, a memoir addressed to Ferdinand and Isabella, before
June, 1497, is now in the collection of the Marquis of San Roman at
Madrid, and was printed for the first time by Harrisse in his
_Christophe Colomb_. A third and fourth are in the public archives in
Madrid, being letters addressed to the Spanish monarchs: one without
date in 1496 or 1497, or perhaps earlier, in 1493, and the other
February 6, 1502; and both have been printed and given in facsimile in
the _Cartas de Indias_, a collection published by the Spanish government
in 1877. The majority of the existing private papers of Columbus are
preserved in Spain, in the hands of the present representative of
Columbus, the Duke of Veragua, and these have all been printed in the
great collection of Navarrete. They consist, as enumerated by Harrisse
in his _Columbus and the Bank of Saint George_, of the following pieces:
a single letter addressed about the year 1500 to Ferdinand and Isabella;
four letters addressed to Father Gaspar Gorricio,--one from San Lucar,
April 4, 1502; a second from the Grand Canaria, May, 1502; a third from
Jamaica, July 7, 1503; and the last from Seville, January 4, 1505;--a
memorial addressed to his son, Diego, written either in December, 1504,
or in January, 1505; and eleven letters addressed also to Diego, all
from Seville, late in 1504 or early in 1505.
[Illustration: MANUSCRIPT OF COLUMBUS.
[From a MS. in the Biblioteca Colombina, given in Harrisse's _Notes
on Columbus_.]]
[Sidenote: All in Spanish.]
Without exception, the letters of Columbus of which we have knowledge
were written in Spanish. Harrisse has conjectured that his stay in Spain
made him a better master of that language than the poor advantages of
his early life had made him of his mother tongue.
[Sidenote: His privileges.]
Columbus was more careful of the documentary proofs of his titles and
privileges, granted in consequence of his discoveries, than of his own
writings. He had more solicitude to protect, by such records, the
pecuniary and titular rights of his descendants than to preserve those
personal papers which, in the eyes of the historian, are far more
valuable. These attested evidences of his rights were for a while
inclosed in an iron chest, kept at his tomb in the monastery of Las
Cuevas, near Seville, and they remained down to 1609 in the custody of
the Carthusian friars of that convent. At this date, Nuño de Portugallo
having been declared the heir to the estate and titles of Columbus, the
papers were transferred to his keeping; and in the end, by legal
decision, they passed to that Duke of Veragua who was the grandfather of
the present duke, who in due time inherited these public memorials, and
now preserves them in Madrid.
[Sidenote: _Codex Diplomaticus._]
In 1502 there were copies made in book form, known as the _Codex
Diplomaticus_, of these and other pertinent documents, raising the
number from thirty-six to forty-four. These copies were attested at
Seville, by order of the Admiral, who then aimed to place them so that
the record of his deeds and rights should not be lost. Two copies seem
to have been sent by him through different channels to Nicoló Oderigo,
the Genoese ambassador in Madrid; and in 1670 both of these copies came
from a descendant of that ambassador as a gift to the Republic of Genoa.
Both of these later disappeared from its archives. A third copy was sent
to Alonso Sanchez de Carvajal, the factor of Columbus in Española, and
this copy is not now known. A fourth copy was deposited in the monastery
of Las Cuevas, near Seville, to be later sent to Father Gorricio. It is
very likely this last copy which is mentioned by Edward Everett in a
note to his oration at Plymouth (Boston, 1825, p. 64), where, referring
to the two copies sent to Oderigo as the only ones made by the order of
Columbus, as then understood, he adds: "Whether the two manuscripts thus
mentioned be the only ones in existence may admit of doubt. When I was
in Florence, in 1818, a small folio manuscript was brought to me,
written on parchment, apparently two or three centuries old, in binding
once very rich, but now worn, containing a series of documents in Latin
and Spanish, with the following title on the first blank page: 'Treslado
de las Bullas del Papa Alexandro VI., de la concession de las Indias y
los titulos, privilegios y cedulas reales, que se dieron a Christoval
Colon.' I was led by this title to purchase the book." After referring
to the _Codice_, then just published, he adds: "I was surprised to find
my manuscript, as far as it goes, nearly identical in its contents with
that of Genoa, supposed to be one of the only two in existence. My
manuscript consists of almost eighty closely written folio pages, which
coincide precisely with the text of the first thirty-seven documents,
contained in two hundred and forty pages of the Genoese volume."
Caleb Cushing says of the Everett manuscript, which he had examined
before he wrote of it in the _North American Review_, October, 1825,
that, "so far as it goes, it is a much more perfect one than the Oderigo
manuscript, as several passages which Spotorno was unable to decipher in
the latter are very plain and legible in the former, which indeed is in
most complete preservation." I am sorry to learn from Dr. William
Everett that this manuscript is not at present easily accessible.
Of the two copies named above as having disappeared from the archives of
Genoa, Harrisse at a late day found one in the archives of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Paris. It had been taken to Paris in 1811, when
Napoleon I. caused the archives of Genoa to be sent to that city, and it
was not returned when the chief part of the documents was recovered by
Genoa in 1815. The other copy was in 1816 among the papers of Count
Cambiaso, and was bought by the Sardinian government, and given to the
city of Genoa, where it is now deposited in a marble _custodia_, which,
surmounted by a bust of Columbus, stands at present in the main hall of
the palace of the municipality. This "custodia" is a pillar, in which a
door of gilded bronze closes the receptacle that contains the relics,
which are themselves inclosed in a bag of Spanish leather, richly
embossed. A copy of this last document was made and placed in the
archives at Turin.
[Sidenote: Their publication by Spotorno.]
These papers, as selected by Columbus for preservation, were edited by
Father Spotorno at Genoa, in 1823, in a volume called _Codice
diplomatico Colombo-Americano_, and published by authority of the state.
There was an English edition at London, in 1823; and a Spanish at
Havana, in 1867. Spotorno was reprinted, with additional matter, at
Genoa, in 1857, as _La Tavola di Bronzo, il pallio di seta, ed il Codice
Colomboamericano, nuovamente illustrati per cura di Giuseppe Banchero_.
[Illustration: THE GENOA CUSTODIA.]
[Sidenote: Letters to the Bank of St. George.]
This Spotorno volume included two additional letters of Columbus, not
yet mentioned, and addressed, March 21, 1502, and December 27, 1504, to
Oderigo. They were found pasted in the duplicate copy of the papers
given to Genoa, and are now preserved in a glass case, in the same
custodia. A third letter, April 2, 1502, addressed to the governors of
the bank of St. George, was omitted by Spotorno; but it is given by
Harrisse in his _Columbus and the Bank of Saint George_ (New York,
1888). This last was one of two letters, which Columbus sent, as he
says, to the bank, but the other has not been found. The history of the
one preserved is traced by Harrisse in the work last mentioned, and
there are lithographic and photographic reproductions of it. Harrisse's
work just referred to was undertaken to prove the forgery of a
manuscript which has within a few years been offered for sale, either as
a duplicate of the one at Genoa, or as the original. When represented as
the original, the one at Genoa is pronounced a facsimile of it. Harrisse
seems to have proved the forgery of the one which is seeking a
purchaser.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS'S LETTER, APRIL 2, 1502, ADDRESSED TO THE BANK
OF ST. GEORGE IN GENOA.
[Reduced in size by photographic process.]]
[Sidenote: Marginalia.]
[Sidenote: Toscanelli's letter.]
Some manuscript marginalia found in three different books, used by
Columbus and preserved in the Biblioteca Colombina at Seville, are also
remnants of the autographs of Columbus. These marginal notes are in
copies of Æneas Sylvius's _Historia Rerum ubique gestarum_ (Venice,
1477) of a Latin version of Marco Polo (Antwerp, 1485?), and of Pierre
d'Ailly's _De Imagine Mundi_ (perhaps 1490), though there is some
suspicion that these last-mentioned notes may be those of Bartholomew,
and not of Christopher, Columbus. These books have been particularly
described in José Silverio Jorrin's _Varios Autografos ineditos de
Cristóbal Colon_, published at Havana in 1888. In May, 1860, José Maria
Fernandez y Velasco, the librarian of the Biblioteca Colombina,
discovered a Latin text of the letter of Toscanelli, written by Columbus
in this same copy of Æneas Sylvius. He believed it a Latin version of a
letter originally written in Italian; but it was left for Harrisse to
discover that the Latin was the original draft. A facsimile of this
script is in Harrisse's _Fernando Colon_ (Seville, 1871), and specimens
of the marginalia were first given by Harrisse in his _Notes on
Columbus_, whence they are reproduced in part in the _Narrative and
Critical History of America_ (vol. ii.).
[Sidenote: Harrisse's memorial of Columbus.]
It is understood that, under the auspices of the Italian government,
Harrisse is now engaged in collating the texts and preparing a national
memorial issue of the writings of Columbus, somewhat in accordance with
a proposition which he made to the Minister of Public Instruction at
Rome in his _Le Quatrième Centenaire de la Découverte du Nouveau Monde_
(Genoa, 1887).
[Sidenote: Columbus's printed works.]
There are references to printed works of Columbus which I have not seen,
as a _Declaracion de Tabla Navigatoria_, annexed to a treatise, _Del Uso
de la Carta de Navegar_, by Dr. Grajales: a _Tratado de las Cinco Zonas
Habitables_, which Humboldt found it very difficult to find.
[Illustration: ANNOTATIONS BY COLUMBUS ON THE _IMAGO MUNDI_.
[From Harrisse's _Notes on Columbus_.]]
[Sidenote: His lost writings.]
Of the manuscripts of Columbus which are lost, there are traces still to
be discovered. One letter, which he dated off the Canaries, February 15,
1493, and which must have contained some account of his first voyage,
is only known to us from an intimation of Marino Sanuto that it was
included in the _Chronica Delphinea_. It is probably from an imperfect
copy of this last in the library at Brescia, that the letter in question
was given in the book's third part (A. D. 1457-1500), which is now
missing. We know also, from a letter still preserved (December 27,
1504), that there must be a letter somewhere, if not destroyed, sent by
him respecting his fourth voyage, to Messer Gian Luigi Fieschi, as is
supposed, the same who led the famous conspiracy against the house of
Doria. Other letters, Columbus tells us, were sent at times to the
Signora Madonna Catalina, who was in some way related to Fieschi.
In 1780, Francesco Pesaro, examining the papers of the Council of Ten,
at Venice, read there a memoir of Columbus, setting forth his maritime
project; or at least Pesaro was so understood by Marin, who gives the
story at a later day in the seventh volume of his history of Venetian
commerce. As Harrisse remarks, this paper, if it could be discovered,
would prove the most interesting of all Columbian documents, since it
would probably be found to fall within a period, from 1473 to 1487, when
we have little or nothing authentic respecting Columbus's life. Indeed,
it might happily elucidate a stage in the development of the Admiral's
cosmographical views of which we know nothing.
We have the letter which Columbus addressed to Alexander VI., in
February, 1502, as preserved in a copy made by his son Ferdinand; but no
historical student has ever seen the Commentary, which he is said to
have written after the manner of Cæsar, recounting the haps and mishaps
of the first voyage, and which he is thought to have sent to the ruling
Pontiff. This act of duty, if done after his return from his last
voyage, must have been made to Julius the Second, not to Alexander.
[Sidenote: Journal of his first voyage.]
Irving and others seem to have considered that this Cæsarian performance
was in fact, the well-known journal of the first voyage; but there is a
good deal of difficulty in identifying that which we only know in an
abridged form, as made by Las Casas, with the narrative sent or intended
to be sent to the Pope.
Ferdinand, or the writer of the _Historie_, later to be mentioned,
it seems clear, had Columbus's journal before him, though he excuses
himself from quoting much from it, in order to avoid wearying the
reader.
The original "journal" seems to have been in 1554 still in the
possession of Luis Colon. It had not, accordingly, at that date been put
among the treasures of the Biblioteca Colombina. Thus it may have
fallen, with Luis's other papers, to his nephew and heir, Diego Colon y
Pravia, who in 1578 entrusted them to Luis de Cardona. Here we lose
sight of them.
[Sidenote: Abridged by Las Casas.]
Las Casas's abridgment in his own handwriting, however, has come down to
us, and some entries in it would seem to indicate that Las Casas
abridged a copy, and not the original. It was, up to 1886, in the
library of the Duke of Orsuna, in Madrid, and was at that date bought by
the Spanish government. While it was in the possession of Orsuna, it was
printed by Varnhagen, in his _Verdadera Guanahani_ (1864). It was
clearly used by Las Casas in his own _Historia_, and was also in the
hands of Ferdinand, when he wrote, or outlined, perhaps, what now passes
for the life of his father, and Ferdinand's statements can sometimes
correct or qualify the text in Las Casas. There is some reason to
suppose that Herrera may have used the original. Las Casas tells us that
in some parts, and particularly in describing the landfall and the
events immediately succeeding, he did not vary the words of the
original. This Las Casas abridgment was in the archives of the Duke del
Infantado, when Navarrete discovered its importance, and edited it as
early as 1791, though it was not given to the public till Navarrete
published his _Coleccion_ in 1825. When this journal is read, even as we
have it, it is hard to imagine that Columbus could have intended so
disjointed a performance to be an imitation of the method of Cæsar's
_Commentaries_.
The American public was early given an opportunity to judge of this, and
of its importance. It was by the instigation of George Ticknor that
Samuel Kettell made a translation of the text as given by Navarrete, and
published it in Boston in 1827, as a _Personal Narrative of the first
Voyage of Columbus to America, from a Manuscript recently discovered in
Spain_.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Descriptions of his first voyage.]
We also know that Columbus wrote other concise accounts of his
discovery. On his return voyage, during a gale, on February 14, 1493,
fearing his ship would founder, he prepared a statement on parchment,
which was incased in wax, put in a barrel, and thrown overboard, to take
the chance of washing ashore. A similar account, protected in like
manner, he placed on his vessel's poop, to be washed off in case of
disaster. Neither of these came, as far as is known, to the notice of
anybody. They very likely simply duplicated the letters which he wrote
on the voyage, intended to be dispatched to their destination on
reaching port. The dates and places of these letters are not
reconcilable with his journal. He was apparently approaching the Azores,
when, on February 15, he dated a letter "off the Canaries," directed to
Luis de Santangel. So false a record as "the Canaries" has never been
satisfactorily explained. It may be imagined, perhaps, that the letter
had been written when Columbus supposed he would make those islands
instead of the Azores, and that the place of writing was not changed. It
is quite enough, however, to rest satisfied with the fact that Columbus
was always careless, and easily erred in such things, as Navarrete has
shown. The postscript which is added is dated March 14, which seems
hardly probable, or even possible, so that March 4 has been suggested.
He professes to write it on the day of his entering the Tagus, and this
was March 4. It is possible that he altered the date when he reached
Palos, as is Major's opinion. Columbus calls this a second letter.
Perhaps a former letter was the one which, as already stated, we have
lost in the missing part of the _Chronica Delphinea_.
[Sidenote: Letter to Santangel.]
[Sidenote: Letter to Sanchez.]
The original of this letter to Santangel, the treasurer of Aragon, and
intended for the eyes of Ferdinand and Isabella, was in Spanish, and is
known in what is thought to be a contemporary copy, found by Navarrete
at Simancas; and it is printed by him in his _Coleccion_, and is given
by Kettell in English, to make no other mention of places where it is
accessible. Harrisse denies that this Simancas manuscript represents the
original, as Navarrete had contended. A letter dated off the island of
Santa Maria, the southernmost of the Azores, three days after the letter
to Santangel, February 18, essentially the same, and addressed to
Gabriel Sanchez, was found in what seemed to be an early copy, among the
papers of the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca. This text was printed by
Varnhagen at Valencia, in 1858, as _Primera Epistola del Almirante Don
Cristóbal Colon_, and it is claimed by him that it probably much more
nearly represents the original of Columbus's own drafting.
[Sidenote: Printed editions.]
There was placed in 1852 in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana at Milan, from the
library of Baron Pietro Custodi, a printed edition of this Spanish
letter, issued in 1493, perhaps somewhere in Spain or Portugal, for
Barcelona and Lisbon have been named. Harrisse conjectures that Sanchez
gave his copy to some printer in Barcelona. Others have contended that
it was not printed in Spain at all. No other copy of this edition has
ever been discovered. It was edited by Cesare Correnti at Milan in 1863,
in a volume called _Lettere autografe di Cristoforo Colombo, nuovamente
stampate_, and was again issued in facsimile in 1866 at Milan, under the
care of Girolamo d'Adda, as _Lettera in lingua Spagnuola diretta da
Cristoforo Colombo a Luis de Sant-Angel_. Major and Becher, among
others, have given versions of it to the English reader, and Harrisse
gives it side by side with a French version in his _Christophe Colomb_
(i. 420), and with an English one in his _Notes on Columbus_.
This text in Spanish print had been thought the only avenue of approach
to the actual manuscript draft of Columbus, till very recently two other
editions, slightly varying, are said to have been discovered, one or
both of which are held by some, but on no satisfactory showing, to have
preceded in issue, probably by a short interval, the Ambrosian copy.
One of these newly alleged editions is on four leaves in quarto, and
represents the letter as dated on February 15 and March 14, and its cut
of type has been held to be evidence of having been printed at Burgos,
or possibly at Salamanca. That this and the Ambrosian letter were
printed one from the other, or independently from some unknown anterior
edition, has been held to be clear from the fact that they correspond
throughout in the division of lines and pages. It is not easily
determined which was the earlier of the two, since there are errors in
each corrected in the other. This unique four-leaf quarto was a few
months since offered for sale in London, by Ellis and Elvey, who have
published (1889) an English translation of it, with annotations by Julia
E. S. Rae. It is now understood to be in the possession of a New York
collector. It is but fair to say that suspicions of its genuineness have
been entertained; indeed, there can be scarce a doubt that it is a
modern fabrication.
The other of these newly discovered editions is in folio of two leaves,
and was the last discovered, and was very recently held by Maisonneuve
of Paris at 65,000 francs, and has since been offered by Quaritch in
London for £1,600. It is said to have been discovered in Spain, and to
have been printed at Barcelona; and this last fact is thought to be
apparent from the Catalan form of some of the Spanish, which has
disappeared in the Ambrosian text. It also gives the dates February 15
and March 14. A facsimile edition has been issued under the title _La
Lettre de Christophe Colomb, annonçant la Découverte du Nouveau Monde_.
Caleb Cushing, in the _North American Review_ in October, 1825, refers
to newspaper stories then current of a recent sale of a copy of the
Spanish text in London, for £33 12_s._ to the Duke of Buckingham. It
cannot now be traced.
[Sidenote: Catalan text.]
Harrisse finds in Ferdinand's catalogue of the Biblioteca Colombina what
was probably a Catalan text of this Spanish letter; but it has
disappeared from the collection.
[Sidenote: Letter found by Bergenroth.]
Bergenroth found at Simancas, some years ago, the text of another letter
by Columbus, with the identical dates already given, and addressed to a
friend; but it conveyed nothing not known in the printed Spanish texts.
He, however, gave a full abstract of it in the _Calendar of State Papers
relating to England and Spain_.
[Sidenote: Columbus gives papers to Bernaldez.]
Columbus is known, after his return from the second voyage, to have been
the guest of Andrès Bernaldez, the Cura de los Palacios, and he is also
known to have placed papers in this friend's hands; and so it has been
held probable by Muñoz that another Spanish text of Columbus's first
account is embodied in Bernaldez's _Historia de los Reyes Católicos_.
The manuscript of this work, which gives thirteen chapters to Columbus,
long remained unprinted in the royal library at Madrid, and Irving,
Prescott, and Humboldt all used it in that form. It was finally printed
at Granada in 1856, as edited by Miguel Lafuente y Alcántara, and was
reprinted at Seville in 1870. Harrisse, in his _Notes on Columbus_,
gives an English version of this section on the Columbus voyage.
[Sidenote: Varieties of the Spanish text.]
These, then, are all the varieties of the Spanish text of Columbus's
first announcement of his discovery which are at present known. When the
Ambrosian text was thought to be the only printed form of it, Varnhagen,
in his _Carta de Cristóbal Colon enviada de Lisboa á Barcelona en Marzo
de 1493_ (Vienna, 1869; and Paris, 1870), collated the different texts
to try to reconstruct a possible original text, as Columbus wrote it. In
the opinion of Major no one of these texts can be considered an accurate
transcript of the original.
[Sidenote: Origin of the Latin text.]
There is a difference of opinion among these critics as to the origin of
the Latin text which scholars generally cite as this first letter of
Columbus. Major thinks this Latin text was not taken from the Spanish,
though similar to it; while Varnhagen thinks that the particular Spanish
text found in the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca was the original of the Latin
version.
[Sidenote: Transient fame of the discovery.]
There is nothing more striking in the history of the years immediately
following the discovery of America than the transient character of the
fame which Columbus acquired by it. It was another and later generation
that fixed his name in the world's regard.
[Sidenote: English mentions of it.]
Harrisse points out how some of the standard chroniclers of the world's
history, like Ferrebouc, Regnault, Galliot du Pré, and Fabian, failed
during the early half of the sixteenth century to make any note of the
acts of Columbus; and he could find no earlier mention among the German
chroniclers than that of Heinrich Steinhowel, some time after 1531.
There was even great reticence among the chroniclers of the Low
Countries; and in England we need to look into the dispatches sent
thence by the Spanish ambassadors to find the merest mention of Columbus
so early as 1498. Perhaps the reference to him made eleven years later
(1509), in an English version of Brandt's _Shyppe of Fools_, and another
still ten years later in a little native comedy called _The New
Interlude_, may have been not wholly unintelligible. It was not till
about 1550 that, so far as England is concerned, Columbus really became
a historical character, in Edward Hall's _Chronicle_.
Speaking of the fewness of the autographs of Columbus which are
preserved, Harrisse adds: "The fact is that Columbus was very far from
being in his lifetime the important personage he now is; and his
writings, which then commanded neither respect nor attention, were
probably thrown into the waste-basket as soon as received."
[Sidenote: Editions of the Latin text.]
Nevertheless, substantial proof seems to exist in the several editions
of the Latin version of this first letter, which were issued in the
months immediately following the return of Columbus from his first
voyage, as well as in the popular versification of its text by Dati in
two editions, both in October, 1493, besides another at Florence in
1495, to show that for a brief interval, at least, the news was more or
less engrossing to the public mind in certain confined areas of Europe.
Before the discovery of the printed editions of the Spanish text, there
existed an impression that either the interest in Spain was less than in
Italy, or some effort was made by the Spanish government to prevent a
wide dissemination of the details of the news.
The two Genoese ambassadors who left Barcelona some time after the
return of Columbus, perhaps in August, 1493, may possibly have taken to
Italy with them some Spanish edition of the letter. The news, however,
had in some form reached Rome in season to be the subject of a papal
bull on May 3d. We know that Aliander or Leander de Cosco, who made the
Latin version, very likely from the Sanchez copy, finished it probably
at Barcelona, on the 29th of April, not on the 25th as is sometimes
said. Cosco sent it at once to Rome to be printed, and his manuscript
possibly conveyed the first tidings, to Italy,--such is Harrisse's
theory,--where it reached first the hands of the Bishop of Monte Peloso,
who added to it a Latin epigram. It was he who is supposed to have
committed it to the printer in Rome, and in that city, during the rest
of 1493, four editions at least of Cosco's Latin appeared. Two of these
editions are supposed to be printed by Plannck, a famous Roman printer;
one is known to have come from the press of Franck Silber. All but one
were little quartos, of the familiar old style, of three or four
black-letter leaves; while the exception was a small octavo with
woodcuts. It is Harrisse's opinion that this pictorial edition was
really printed at Basle. In Paris, during the same time or shortly
after, there were three editions of a similar appearance, all from one
press. The latest of all, brought to light but recently, seems to have
been printed by a distinguished Flemish printer, Thierry Martens,
probably at Antwerp. It is not improbable that other editions printed in
all these or other cities may yet be found. It is noteworthy that
nothing was issued in Germany, as far as we know, before a German
version of the letter appeared at Strassburg in 1497.
[Illustration: FIRST PAGE, COLUMBUS'S FIRST LETTER, LATIN EDITION, 1493.
[From the Barlow copy, now in the Boston Public Library.]]
The text in all these Latin editions is intended to be the same. But a
very few copies of any edition, and only a single copy of two or three
of them, are known. The Lenox, the Carter-Brown, and the Ives libraries
in this country are the chief ones possessing any of them, and the
collections of the late Henry C. Murphy and Samuel L. M. Barlow also
possessed a copy or two, the edition owned by Barlow passing in
February, 1890, to the Boston Public Library. This scarcity and the
rivalry of collectors would probably, in case any one of them should be
brought upon the market, raise the price to fifteen hundred dollars or
more. The student is not so restricted as this might imply, for in
several cases there have been modern facsimiles and reprints, and there
is an early reprint by Veradus, annexed to his poem (1494) on the
capture of Granada. The text usually quoted by the older writers,
however, is that embodied in the _Bellum Christianorum Principum_ of
Robertus Monarchus (Basle, 1533).
[Sidenote: Order of publication.]
In these original small quartos and octavos, there is just enough
uncertainty and obscurity as to dates and printers, to lure
bibliographers and critics of typography into research and controversy;
and hardly any two of them agree in assigning the same order of
publication to these several issues. The present writer has in the
second volume of the _Narrative and Critical History of America_ grouped
the varied views, so far as they had in 1885 been made known. The
bibliography to which Harrisse refers as being at the end of his work on
Columbus was crowded out of its place and has not appeared; but he
enters into a long examination of the question of priority in the second
chapter of his last volume. The earliest English translation of this
Latin text appeared in the _Edinburgh Review_ in 1816, and other issues
have been variously made since that date.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Additional sources respecting the first voyage.]
We get some details of this first voyage in Oviedo, which we do not find
in the journal, and Vicente Yañez Pinzon and Hernan Perez Matheos, who
were companions of Columbus, are said to be the source of this
additional matter. The testimony in the lawsuit of 1515, particularly
that of Garcia Hernandez, who was in the "Pinta," and of a sailor named
Francisco Garcia Vallejo, adds other details.
[Sidenote: Second voyage.]
There is no existing account by Columbus himself of his experiences
during his second voyage, and of that cruise along the Cuban coast in
which he supposed himself to have come in sight of the Golden
Chersonesus. The _Historie_ tells us that during this cruise he kept a
journal, _Libro del Segundo Viage_, till he was prostrated by sickness,
and this itinerary is cited both in the _Historie_ and by Las Casas. We
also get at second-hand from Columbus, what was derived from him in
conversation after his return to Spain, in the account of these
explorations which Bernaldez has embodied in his _Reyes Católicos_.
Irving says that he found these descriptions of Bernaldez by far the
most useful of the sources for this period, as giving him the details
for a picturesque narrative. On disembarking at Cadiz in June, 1495,
Columbus sent to his sovereigns two dispatches, neither of which is now
known.
[Sidenote: Columbus's letters.]
It was in the collection of the Duke of Veragua that Navarrete
discovered fifteen autograph letters of Columbus, four of them addressed
to his friend, the Father Gaspar Gorricio, and the rest to his son
Diego. Navarrete speaks of them when found as in a very deplorable and
in parts almost unreadable condition, and severely taxing, for
deciphering them, the practiced skill of Tomas Gonzalez, which had been
acquired in the care which he had bestowed on the archives of Simancas.
It is known that two letters addressed to Gorricio in 1498, and four in
1501, beside a single letter addressed in the last year to Diego Colon,
which were in the iron chest at Las Cuevas, are not now in the archives
of the Duke of Veragua; and it is further known that during the great
lawsuit of Columbus's heirs, Cristoval de Cardona tampered with that
chest, and was brought to account for the act in 1580. Whatever he
removed may possibly some day be found, as Harrisse thinks, among the
notarial records of Valencia.
[Sidenote: Third voyage.]
Two letters of Columbus respecting his third voyage are only known in
early copies; one in Las Casas's hand belonged to the Duke of Orsuna,
and the other addressed to the nurse of Prince Juan is in the Custodia
collection at Genoa. Both are printed by Navarrete.
[Sidenote: Fourth voyage.]
Columbus, in a letter dated December 27, 1504, mentions a relation of
his fourth voyage with a supplement, which he had sent from Seville to
Oderigo; but it is not known. We are without trace also of other
letters, which he wrote at Dominica and at other points during this
voyage. We do know, however, a letter addressed by Columbus to Ferdinand
and Isabella, giving some account of his voyage to July 7, 1503. The
lost Spanish original is represented in an early copy, which is printed
by Navarrete. Though no contemporary Spanish edition is known, an
Italian version was issued at Venice in 1505, as _Copia de la Lettera
per Colombo mandata_. This was reprinted with comments by Morelli, at
Bassano, in 1810, and the title which this librarian gave it of _Lettera
Rarissima_ has clung to it, in most of the citations which refer to it.
Peter Martyr, writing in January, 1494, mentions just having received a
letter from Columbus, but it is not known to exist.
[Sidenote: Las Casas uses Columbus's papers.]
Las Casas is said to have once possessed a treatise by Columbus on the
information obtained from Portuguese and Spanish pilots, concerning
western lands; and he also refers to _Libros de Memorias del Almirante_.
He is also known by his own statements to have had numerous autograph
letters of Columbus. What has become of them is not known. If they were
left in the monastery of San Gregorio at Valladolid, where Las Casas
used them, they have disappeared with papers of the convent, since they
were not among the archives of the suppressed convents, as Harrisse
tells us, which were entrusted in 1850 to the Academy of History at
Madrid.
[Sidenote: Work on the Arctic pole.]
In his letter to Doña Juana, Columbus says that he has deposited a work
in the Convent de la Mejorada, in which he has predicted the discovery
of the Arctic pole. It has not been found.
[Sidenote: Missing letters.]
Harrisse also tells us of the unsuccessful search which he has made for
an alleged letter of Columbus, said in Gunther and Schultz's handbook of
autographs (Leipzig, 1856) to have been bought in England by the Duke of
Buckingham; and it was learned from Tross, the Paris bookseller, that
about 1850 some autograph letters of Columbus, seen by him, were sent to
England for sale.
[Sidenote: Columbus's maps.]
After his return from his first voyage, Columbus prepared a map and an
accompanying table of longitudes and latitudes for the new discoveries.
They are known to have been the subject of correspondence between him
and the queen.
There are various other references to maps which Columbus had
constructed, to embody his views or show his discoveries. Not one,
certainly to be attributed to him, is known, though Ojeda, Niño, and
others are recorded as having used, in their explorations, maps made by
Columbus. Peter Martyr's language does not indicate that Columbus ever
completed any chart, though he had, with the help of his brother
Bartholomew, begun one. The map in the Ptolemy of 1513 is said by
Santarem to have been drawn by Columbus, or to have been based on his
memoranda, but the explanation on the map seems rather to imply that
information derived from an admiral in the service of Portugal was used
in correcting it, and since Harrisse has brought to light what is
usually called the Cantino map, there is strong ground for supposing
that the two had one prototype.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Italian notarial records.]
Let us pass from records by Columbus to those about him. We owe to an
ancient custom of Italy that so much has been preserved, to throw in the
aggregate no small amount of light on the domestic life of the family in
which Columbus was the oldest born. During the fourteen years in which
his father lived at Savona, every little business act and legal
transaction was attested before notaries, whose records have been
preserved filed in _filzas_ in the archives of the town.
These _filzas_ were simply a file of documents tied together by a string
passed through each, and a _filza_ generally embraced a year's
accumulation. The photographic facsimile which Harrisse gives in his
_Columbus and the Bank of Saint George_, of the letter of Columbus
preserved by the bank, shows how the sheet was folded once lengthwise,
and then the hole was made midway in each fold.
We learn in this way that, as early as 1470 and later, Columbus stood
security for his father. We find him in 1472 the witness of another's
will. As under the Justinian procedure the notary's declaration
sufficed, such documents in Italy are not rendered additionally
interesting by the autograph of the witness, as they would be in
England. This notarial resource is no new discovery. As early as 1602,
thirteen documents drawn from similar depositaries were printed at
Genoa, in some annotations by Giulio Salinerio upon Cornelius Tacitus.
Other similar papers were discovered by the archivists of Savona, Gian
Tommaso and Giambattista Belloro, in 1810 (reprinted, 1821) and 1839
respectively, and proving the general correctness of the earlier
accounts of Columbus's younger days given in Gallo, Senarega, and
Giustiniani. It is to be regretted that the original entries of some of
these notarial acts are not now to be found, but patient search may yet
discover them, and even do something more to elucidate the life of the
Columbus family in Savona.
[Sidenote: Savona.]
There has been brought into prominence and published lately a memoir of
the illustrious natives of Savona, written by a lawyer, Giovanni
Vincenzo Verzellino, who died in that town in 1638. This document was
printed at Savona in 1885, under the editorial care of Andrea Astengo;
but Harrisse has given greater currency to its elucidations for our
purpose in his _Christophe Colomb et Savone_ (Genoa, 1877).
[Sidenote: Genoa notarial records.]
Harrisse is not unwisely confident that the nineteen documents--if no
more have been added--throwing light on minor points of the obscure
parts of the life of Columbus and his kindred, which during recent years
have been discovered in the notarial files of Genoa by the Marquis
Marcello Staglieno, may be only the precursors of others yet to be
unearthed, and that the pages of the _Giornale Ligustico_ may continue
to record such discoveries as it has in the past.
[Sidenote: Records of the Bank of St. George.]
The records of the Bank of Saint George in Genoa have yielded something,
but not much. In the state archives of Genoa, preserved since 1817 in
the Palazzetto, we might hope to find some report of the great
discovery, of which the Genoese ambassadors, Francesco Marchesio and
Gian Antonio Grimaldi, were informed, just as they were taking leave of
Ferdinand and Isabella for returning to Italy; but nothing of that kind
has yet been brought to light there; nor was it ever there, unless the
account which Senarega gives in the narrative printed in Muratori was
borrowed thence. We may hope, but probably in vain, to have these public
archives determine if Columbus really offered to serve his native
country in a voyage of discovery. The inquirer is more fortunate if he
explores what there is left of the archives of the old abbey of St.
Stephen, which, since the suppression of the convents in 1797, have been
a part of the public papers, for he can find in them some help in
solving some pertinent questions.
[Sidenote: Vatican archives.]
[Sidenote: Hidden manuscripts.]
[Sidenote: Letters about Columbus.]
Harrisse tells us in 1887 that he had been waiting two years for
permission to search the archives of the Vatican. What may yet be
revealed in that repository, the world waits anxiously to learn. It may
be that some one shall yet discover there the communication in which
Ferdinand and Isabella announced to the Pope the consummation of the
hopes of Columbus. It may be that the diplomatic correspondence covering
the claims of Spain by virtue of the discovery of Columbus, and leading
to the bull of demarcation of May, 1493, may yet be found, accompanied
by maps, of the highest interest in interpreting the relations of the
new geography. There is no assurance that the end of manuscript
disclosures has yet come. Some new bit of documentary proof has been
found at times in places quite unexpected. The number of Italian
observers in those days of maritime excitement living in the seaports
and trading places of Spain and Portugal, kept their home friends alert
in expectation by reason of such appetizing news. Such are the letters
sent to Italy by Hanibal Januarius, and by Luca, the Florentine
engineer, concerning the first voyage. There are similar transient
summaries of the second voyage. Some have been found in the papers of
Macchiavelli, and others had been arranged by Zorzi for a new edition of
his documentary collection. These have all been recovered of recent
years, and Harrisse himself, Gargiolli, Guerrini, and others, have been
instrumental in their publication.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Spanish archives.]
[Sidenote: Simancas and Seville.]
[Sidenote: Simancas.]
It was thirty-seven years after the death of Columbus before, under an
order of Charles the Fifth, February 19, 1543, the archives of Spain
were placed in some sort of order and security at Simancas. The great
masses of papers filed by the crown secretaries and the Councils of the
Indies and of Seville, were gradually gathered there, but not until many
had been lost. Others apparently disappeared at a later day, for we are
now aware that many to which Herrera refers cannot be found. New efforts
to secure the preservation and systematize the accumulation of
manuscripts were made by order of Philip the Second in 1567, but it
would seem without all the success that might have been desired. Towards
the end of the last century, it was the wish of Charles the Third that
all the public papers relating to the New World should be selected from
Simancas and all other places of deposit and carried to Seville. The act
was accomplished in 1788, when they were placed in a new building which
had been provided for them. Thus it is that to-day the student of
Columbus must rather search Seville than Simancas for new documents,
though a few papers of some interest in connection with the contests of
his heirs with the crown of Castile may still exist at Simancas. Thirty
years ago, if not now, as Bergenroth tells us, there was little comfort
for the student of history in working at Simancas. The papers are
preserved in an old castle, formerly belonging to the admirals of
Castile, which had been confiscated and devoted to the uses of such a
repository. The one large room which was assigned for the accommodation
of readers had a northern aspect, and as no fires were allowed, the
note-taker found not infrequently in winter the ink partially congealed
in his pen. There was no imaginable warmth even in the landscape as seen
from the windows, since, amid a treeless waste, the whistle of cold
blasts in winter and a blinding African heat in summer characterize the
climate of this part of Old Castile.
Of the early career of Columbus, it is very certain that something may
be gained at Simancas, for when Bergenroth, sent by the English
government, made search there to illustrate the relations of Spain with
England, and published his results, with the assistance of Gayangos, in
1862-1879, as a _Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers
relating to Negotiations between England and Spain_, one of the earliest
entries of his first printed volume, under 1485, was a complaint of
Ferdinand and Isabella against a Columbus--some have supposed it our
Christopher--for his participancy in the piratical service of the
French.
[Illustration: ARCHIVO DE SIMANCAS.
[From Parcerisa and Quadrado's _España_.]]
[Sidenote: Seville.]
Harrisse complains that we have as yet but scant knowledge of what the
archives of the Indies at Seville may contain, but they probably throw
light rather upon the successors of Columbus than upon the career of the
Admiral himself.
[Sidenote: Seville notarial records.]
The notarial archives of Seville are of recent construction, the
gathering of scattered material having been first ordered so late as
1869. The partial examination which has since been made of them has
revealed some slight evidences of the life of some of Columbus's
kindred, and it is quite possible some future inquirer will be rewarded
for his diligent search among them.
It is also not unlikely that something of interest may be brought to
light respecting the descendants of Columbus who have lived in Seville,
like the Counts of Gelves; but little can be expected regarding the life
of the Admiral himself.
[Sidenote: Santa Maria de las Cuevas.]
The personal fame of Columbus is much more intimately connected with the
monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas. Here his remains were
transported in 1509; and at a later time, his brother and son, each
Diego by name, were laid beside him, as was his grandson Luis. Here in
an iron chest the family muniments and jewels were kept, as has been
said. It is affirmed that all the documents which might have grown out
of these transactions of duty and precaution, and which might
incidentally have yielded some biographical information, are nowhere to
be found in the records of the monastery. A century ago or so, when
Muñoz was working in these records, there seems to have been enough to
repay his exertions, as we know by his citations made between 1781 and
1792.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Portuguese archives. Torre do Tombo.]
The national archives of the Torre do Tombo, at Lisbon, begun so far
back as 1390, are well known to have been explored by Santarem, then
their keeper, primarily for traces of the career of Vespucius; but so
intelligent an antiquary could not have forgotten, as a secondary aim,
the acts of Columbus. The search yielded him, however, nothing in this
last direction; nor was Varnhagen more fortunate. Harrisse had hopes to
discover there the correspondence of Columbus with John the Second, in
1488; but the search was futile in this respect, though it yielded not
a little respecting the Perestrello family, out of which Columbus took
his wife, the mother of the heir of his titles. There is even hope that
the notarial acts of Lisbon might serve a similar purpose to those which
have been so fruitful in Genoa and Savona. There are documents of great
interest which may be yet obscurely hidden away, somewhere in Portugal,
like the letter from the mouth of the Tagus, which Columbus on his
return in March, 1493, addressed to the Portuguese king, and the
diplomatic correspondence of John the Second and Ferdinand of Aragon,
which the project of a second voyage occasioned, as well as the
preliminaries of the treaty of Tordesillas.
[Sidenote: Santo Domingo archives.]
[Sidenote: Lawsuit papers.]
There may be yet some hope from the archives of Santo Domingo itself,
and from those of its Cathedral, to trace in some of their lines the
descendants of the Admiral through his son Diego. The mishaps of nature
and war have, however, much impaired the records. Of Columbus himself
there is scarce a chance to learn anything here. The papers of the
famous lawsuit of Diego Colon with the crown seem to have escaped the
attention of all the historians before the time of Muñoz and Navarrete.
The direct line of male descendants of the Admiral ended in 1578, when
his great-grandson, Diego Colon y Pravia, died on the 27th January, a
childless man. Then began another contest for the heritage and titles,
and it lasted for thirty years, till in 1608 the Council of the Indies
judged the rights to descend by a turn back to Diego's aunt Isabel, and
thence to her grandson, Nuño de Portugallo, Count of Gelves. The
excluded heirs, represented by the children of a sister of Diego,
Francisca, who had married Diego Ortegon, were naturally not content;
and out of the contest which followed we get a large mass of printed
statements and counter statements, which used with caution, offer a
study perhaps of some of the transmitted traits of Columbus. Harrisse
names and describes nineteen of these documentary memorials, the last of
which bears date in 1792. The most important of them all, however, is
one printed at Madrid in 1606, known as _Memorial del Pleyto_, in which
we find the descent of the true and spurious lines, and learn something
too much of the scandalous life of Luis, the grandson of the Admiral, to
say nothing of the illegitimate taints of various other branches.
Harrisse finds assistance in working out some of the lines of the
Admiral's descendants, in Antonio Caetano de Sousa's _Historia
Genealogica da Casa Real Portugueza_ (Lisbon, 1735-49, in 14 vols.).
[Sidenote: The Muñoz collection.]
The most important collection of documents gathered by individual
efforts in Spain, to illustrate the early history of the New World, was
that made by Juan Bautista Muñoz, in pursuance of royal orders issued to
him in 1781 and 1788, to examine all Spanish archives, for the purpose
of collecting material for a comprehensive History of the Indies. Muñoz
has given in the introduction of his history a clear statement of the
condition of the different depositories of archives in Spain, as he
found them towards the end of the last century, when a royal order
opened them all to his search. A first volume of Muñoz's elaborate and
judicious work was issued in 1793, and Muñoz died in 1799, without
venturing on a second volume to carry the story beyond 1500, where he
had left it. He was attacked for his views, and there was more or less
of a pamphlet war over the book before death took him from the strife;
but he left a fragment of the second volume in manuscript, and of this
there is a copy in the Lenox Library in New York. Another copy was sold
in the Brinley sale. The Muñoz collection of copies came in part, at
least, at some time after the collector's death into the hands of
Antonio de Uguina, who placed them at the disposal of Irving; and
Ternaux seems also to have used them. They were finally deposited by the
Spanish government in the Academy of History at Madrid. Here Alfred
Demersey saw them in 1862-63, and described them in the _Bulletin_ of
the French Geographical Society in June, 1864, and it is on this
description as well as on one in Fuster's _Biblioteca Valenciana_, that
Harrisse depends, not having himself examined the documents.
[Sidenote: The Navarrete collection.]
Martin Fernandez de Navarrete was guided in his career as a collector of
documents, when Charles the Fourth made an order, October 15, 1789, that
there should be such a work begun to constitute the nucleus of a library
and museum. The troublous times which succeeded interrupted the work,
and it was not till 1825 that Navarrete brought out the first volume of
his _Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos que hicieron por Mar los
Españoles desde_ _Fines del Siglo XV._, a publication which a fifth
volume completed in 1837, when he was over seventy years of age.
Any life of Columbus written from documentary sources must reflect much
light from this collection of Navarrete, of which the first two volumes
are entirely given to the career of the Admiral, and indeed bear the
distinctive title of _Relaciones, Cartas y otros Documentos_, relating
to him.
[Sidenote: The researches of Navarrete.]
Navarrete was engaged thirty years on his work in the archives of Spain,
and was aided part of the time by Muñoz the historian, and by Gonzales
the keeper of the archives at Simancas. His researches extended to all
the public repositories, and to such private ones as could be thought to
illustrate the period of discovery. Navarrete has told the story of his
searches in the various archives of Spain, in the introduction to his
_Coleccion_, and how it was while searching for the evidences of the
alleged voyage of Maldonado on the Pacific coast of North America, in
1588, that he stumbled upon Las Casas's copies of the relations of
Columbus, for his first and third voyages, then hid away in the archives
of the Duc del Infantado; and he was happy to have first brought them to
the attention of Muñoz.
There are some advantages for the student in the use of the French
edition of Navarrete's _Relations des Quatre Voyages entrepris par
Colomb_, since the version was revised by Navarrete himself, and it is
elucidated, not so much as one would wish, with notes by Rémusat, Balbi,
Cuvier, Jomard, Letronne, St. Martin, Walckenaer, and others. It was
published at Paris in three volumes in 1828. The work contains
Navarrete's accounts of Spanish pre-Columbian voyages, of the later
literature on Columbus, and of the voyages of discovery made by other
efforts of the Spaniards, beside the documentary material respecting
Columbus and his voyages, the result of his continued labors. Caleb
Cushing, in his _Reminiscences of Spain_ in 1833, while commending the
general purposes of Navarrete, complains of his attempts to divert the
indignation of posterity from the selfish conduct of Ferdinand, and to
vindicate him from the charge of injustice towards Columbus. This plea
does not find to-day the same sympathy in students that it did sixty
years ago.
[Sidenote: Madrid Academy of History.]
Father Antonio de Aspa of the monastery of the Mejorada, formed a
collection of documents relating to the discovery of the New World, and
it was in this collection, now preserved in the Academy of History at
Madrid, that Navarrete discovered that curious narration of the second
voyage of Columbus by Dr. Chanca, which had been sent to the chapter of
the Cathedral, and which Navarrete included in his collection. It is
thought that Bernaldez had used this Chanca narrative in his _Reyes
Católicos_.
[Sidenote: _Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos._]
Navarrete's name is also connected, as one of its editors, with the
extensive _Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de España_,
the publication of which was begun in Madrid in 1847, two years before
Navarrete's death. This collection yields something in elucidation of
the story to be here told; but not much, except that in it, at a late
day, the _Historia_ of Las Casas was first printed.
In 1864, there was still another series begun at Madrid, _Coleccion de
Documentos Ineditos relativos al Descubrimiento, Conquista y
Colonizacion de las Posesiones Españolas en América y Oceania_, under
the editing of Joaquin Pacheco and Francisco de Cárdenas, who have not
always satisfied students by the way in which they have done their work.
Beyond the papers which Navarrete had earlier given, and which are here
reprinted, there is not much in this collection to repay the student of
Columbus, except some long accounts of the Repartimiento in Española.
[Sidenote: Cartas de Indias.]
The latest documentary contribution is the large folio, with an appendix
of facsimile writings of Columbus, Vespucius, and others, published at
Madrid in 1877, by the government, and called _Cartas de Indias_, in
which it has been hinted some use has been made of the matter
accumulated by Navarrete for additional volumes of his _Coleccion_.
[Illustration: PART OF A PAGE IN THE GIUSTINIANI PSALTER, SHOWING THE
BEGINNING OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED LIFE OF COLUMBUS.
[From the copy in Harvard College Library.]]