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The Four Voyages: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives
'The Admiral was quite certain that they were near land ... He promised to give a silk doublet to the first sailor who should report it'
No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus's ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New World'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating from awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to 'savages' matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus's ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New World'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating from awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to 'savages' matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1530
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About the author
Christopher Columbus
327 books25 followersChristopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) was a Genoese navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Although not the first to reach the Americas from Europe—he was preceded by the Norse, led by Leif Ericson, who built a temporary settlement 500 years earlier at L'Anse aux Meadows — Columbus initiated widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans. With his four voyages of discovery and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Queen Isabella of Spain, he initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the "New World." (The term "pre-Columbian" is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors.)
His initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus's far-fetched scheme won the attention of Queen Isabella of Spain. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter and more direct than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade — heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas Archipelago at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the North-American island for the East-Asian mainland, he referred to its inhabitants as "Indios".
Academic consensus is that Columbus was born in Genoa, though there are other theories. The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. The original name in 15th century Genoese language was Christoffa Corombo. The name is rendered in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.
The anniversary of Columbus's 1492 landing in the Americas is observed as Columbus Day on October 12 in Spain and throughout the Americas, except that in the United States it is observed on the second Monday in October.
His initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus's far-fetched scheme won the attention of Queen Isabella of Spain. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter and more direct than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade — heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas Archipelago at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the North-American island for the East-Asian mainland, he referred to its inhabitants as "Indios".
Academic consensus is that Columbus was born in Genoa, though there are other theories. The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. The original name in 15th century Genoese language was Christoffa Corombo. The name is rendered in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.
The anniversary of Columbus's 1492 landing in the Americas is observed as Columbus Day on October 12 in Spain and throughout the Americas, except that in the United States it is observed on the second Monday in October.
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February 3, 2015
In case you didn't already know that Columbus was an asshole, he was an asshole.
November 12, 2024
The four transatlantic voyages that Christopher Columbus led between 1492 and 1502 brought two worlds together, bringing wealth to kingdoms of the Old World and incalculable misery to the Indigenous nations of the New World. And all of those truths regarding the life and career of Christopher Columbus are very much in evidence in this concise and well-organized Penguin Books collection with the title The Four Voyages.
The book’s title is much more elaborate – to wit, The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus – Being His Own Log-Book, Letters, and Dispatches, With Connecting Narrative Drawn from the Life of the Admiral by His Son Hernando Colon and Other Contemporary Historians – and so I trust that it will be alright with everyone if we simply refer to the book, henceforth, as The Four Voyages.
The book’s editor, J.M. Cohen, was a longtime translator for Penguin Books, and he chose well in the materials that he selected in compiling Columbus’ Four Voyages: Columbus’ log-book and Hernando Colon’s The Life of the Admiral, as mentioned above, but also works like Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo’s General and Natural History of the Indies, letters of Columbus, a letter written by a royal physician named Chanca, Columbus’ own Narrative of the Third Voyage, and an account by Diego Mendez of “certain incidents on Christopher Columbus’ last voyage.” The documents, taken together, provide a compelling account of how Columbus went from being the cynosure of all eyes, the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” to being sent home in chains from the Indies to Seville.
Columbus’ log book - or, more accurately, Bartolomé de las Casas’ digest of Columbus’ log-book - gives us an account of the actual “discovery” on October 11 that is surprisingly matter-of-fact. There are a few sightings of sticks and other debris that seem to indicate that land might be near – and then, “The caravel Pinta, being swifter and sailing ahead of the Admiral, now sighted land and gave the signals which the Admiral had commanded” (p. 51). And with that, as editor Cohen aptly remarks, we get to hear “the Admiral’s actual words in his account of his first voyage and the discovery of these Indies” (p. 53).
It is interesting, to say the least, to hear Columbus’ initial impressions of the Indies and their people. Anyone who has ever visited the Bahamas will not be surprised to hear that Columbus finds the islands to be simply lovely. Of what is now the Bahamas’ Long Island, Columbus writes that “This island is very green, flat, and fertile, and I have no doubt that they sow and reap Indian corn and other crops throughout the year” (p. 64)
As for the Indigenous people of the islands, Columbus writes that “The people are very gentle and anxious to have the things we bring. Thinking that nothing will be given them, however, unless they give something in exchange, and having nothing to give, they take anything they can, jump into the water, and swim away. But they will give all that they do possess for anything that is given to them, exchanging things even for bits of broken crockery or broken glass cups” (p. 56). One day later, observing an Indigenous village from his boat, he records how the villagers asked “if we came from the sky. One old man got into the boat, and all the others, men and women alike, shouted, ‘Come and see the men who have come from the skies; and bring them food and drink’” (p. 57).
The reader also gets a grim sense of the shape of things to come when Columbus says of the Indigenous people that “They have no religion [!] and I think that they would be very quickly Christianized, for they have a very ready understanding” (p. 64). He also assumes that when the Spaniards send future expeditions, “we shall be favourably received and the natives may give us of all they possess” (p. 63). The arrogant assumption of cultural superiority, and of the right to take what one wants on that basis, could not be more clear.
If Columbus’ sense of how to interact with people from other cultures seems lacking – well, so does his sense of geography. Columbus repeatedly makes clear that he thinks he’s reached Asia, saying on 21 October that “I shall set out for another large island which, according to the indications given me by the Indians whom I have aboard, must be Chipangu [Japan]. They, however, call it Colba [Cuba]” (p. 71). Columbus adds that “I am determined to go to the city of Quinsay” (p. 71) – meaning, as the commentator points out, Hangzhou, the old capital of the Khans of China.
With Cuba being a large island that is close to a massive mainland, I originally thought that Columbus made the mistake of assuming that Cuba was Japan, and that the nearby mainland of the Americas was China. Reading The Four Voyages, however, cleared things up for me considerably. In a February 1493 letter written to various correspondents, Columbus recalls that “When I reached Cuba, I followed its north coast westwards, and found it so extensive that I thought this must be the mainland, the province of Cathay [China]” (p. 115).
Editor Cohen notes, in that regard, that while Columbus seems to accept “the native story that Cuba is an island which they can circumnavigate in something more than twenty-one days”, he simultaneously “insists here and later, during the second voyage, that it is in fact part of the Asiatic mainland.” Columbus clearly had trouble letting go of his preconceptions.
Throughout The Four Voyages, one gets a strong sense of certain aspects of Columbus’ character. He clearly thinks of himself as a Man of Destiny, whose destiny is bound up with that of Spain and the Catholic Church; he is hyperconscious of having enemies, and always feels beset by them; and he knows which side his pan con tomate is buttered on, and therefore seizes upon every opportunity to ingratiate himself with his royal patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Hernando Colon, in a passage from The Life of the Admiral, reveals these aspects of Columbus’ character when he quotes from a letter in which he describes the voyagers’ encounter with a sea storm on Saint Valentine’s Day 1493:
“I should have had less difficulty in withstanding this storm if I had only been in personal danger, since I know that I owe my life to my Supreme Creator and He has so many times before saved me when I have been near to death that actually to die would hardly have cost me greater suffering. But what caused me infinite pain and grief was the thought that after it had pleased the Lord to inspire me with faith and assurance to undertake this enterprise, in which he had now granted me success, at the very moment when my opponents would have been proved wrong and your Highnesses would have been endowed by me with glory and increase of your high estate, the Lord might choose to prevent all this by my death.” (pp. 101-02)
Columbus’ sense of being ever beset by enemies certainly comes through here – as does the way in which he persistently links his destiny with not only the Spanish throne and the Catholic Church, but also the will of God Himself, as when he talks of how “I was comforted by my faith that Our Lord would not allow a project for the exaltation of His Church, which I had carried out in the face of such opposition and dangers, to remain incomplete and myself to be ruined” (p. 102).
Columbus did survive the storm, and returned to Spain to bestow riches of the New World upon his royal patrons. In another passage from The Life of the Admiral Hernando Colon recalls how Columbus, “on reaching Burgos…made a handsome present to their Majesties of many objects”, among which were “many grains of unworked gold, some very small and some as large as a bean or a chickpea, and a few the size of a pigeon’s egg”. Colon emphasizes how “the Catholic sovereigns accepted this gift most joyfully, and thanked the Admiral for the great services he had performed” (p. 203). Columbus must have felt as if he were on top of the world.
By the time of Columbus’ third voyage of 1498-1500, one would think that Columbus had learned a thing or two about the geography of the lands that he had “discovered” – but unfortunately, he was still clinging to some highly inaccurate preconceptions. In a letter sent to the Spanish sovereigns from the island of Hispaniola, he looks back at having “discovered in a very short time 333 leagues of mainland, the end of the East” – a claim that editor Cohen duly footnotes as an example of how, “In spite of all evidence, Columbus still claimed that Cuba was the extreme eastern extension of the Asiatic mainland” (p. 206).
It’s not long, however, before Columbus gets away from his stubbornly wrong geography and returns to his regular practice of complaining, stating that “abuse broke out and disparagement of the undertaking began, because I had not immediately sent back ships laden with gold.” As Columbus sees it, “No one considered the shortness of the time or the many difficulties that I described in my letters. And so, for my sins – or, as I think it will prove, for my salvation – I became an object of loathing, and objections were made to all my wishes and demands” (p. 206). While he hastens to thank the sovereigns for their smiling expressions of support, one can’t help reflecting that the King and Queen of Spain probably received letters from Columbus with mixed emotions at best.
And the letter that Columbus sent from Jamaica, on 7 July 1503, must have really thrown the King and Queen of Spain for the proverbial loop. Historians can tell you that Columbus’ mismanagement of the American colonies, coupled with infighting among ambitious rivals, led to Columbus’ downfall. It’s complicated. But Columbus tries to simplify it as a plot against him – belabouring his ill fortune, complaining of “the unparalleled wrong that I have suffered”, telling of how he was “suddenly arrested and put aboard a ship, naked, ill-treated and loaded with chains; and this without trial or sentence.” He adds that “I came to serve at the age of twenty-eight and today I have not a hair on my head that is not grey. My body is sick and wasted. All that I and my brothers had has been taken from us, down to our very coats, without my being heard or seen, and I have suffered great dishonour.” And he closes with an openly emotional plea for royal sympathy:
I am ruined, as I have said; till now I have wept for others. May Heaven now have pity on me and earth weep for me. Of worldly possessions I have not even a farthing to offer for my spirit’s good. Here in the Indies I am cut off from the prescribed forms of religion, alone in my troubles, sick, in daily expectation of death and surrounded by a million hostile savages full of cruelty, and so far from the Holy Sacraments of the Blessed Church that my soul will be forgotten if it leaves my body. Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice! (p. 303)
Relatively few people would be likely to weep for Christopher Columbus today. His place in history is not what it was back when Columbus statues were being placed in major U.S. cities, often in Italian-American areas where the Genoa-born navigator was long a hero. In Baltimore, for example, the Columbus monument that had been a feature of the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood since 1984 was pulled down by protesters in 2020; the fragments of the statue were then dumped into Jones Falls, a canal that drains into Baltimore Harbour. A local Knights of Columbus chapter, finding that the statue could not be repaired, has declared plans to “reproduce” the statue.
Yet Columbus – whatever you or I may think of him – remains historically important; and this edition of The Four Voyages continues to serve as a valuable resource for readers who want to learn more about Columbus and his time.
The book’s title is much more elaborate – to wit, The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus – Being His Own Log-Book, Letters, and Dispatches, With Connecting Narrative Drawn from the Life of the Admiral by His Son Hernando Colon and Other Contemporary Historians – and so I trust that it will be alright with everyone if we simply refer to the book, henceforth, as The Four Voyages.
The book’s editor, J.M. Cohen, was a longtime translator for Penguin Books, and he chose well in the materials that he selected in compiling Columbus’ Four Voyages: Columbus’ log-book and Hernando Colon’s The Life of the Admiral, as mentioned above, but also works like Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo’s General and Natural History of the Indies, letters of Columbus, a letter written by a royal physician named Chanca, Columbus’ own Narrative of the Third Voyage, and an account by Diego Mendez of “certain incidents on Christopher Columbus’ last voyage.” The documents, taken together, provide a compelling account of how Columbus went from being the cynosure of all eyes, the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” to being sent home in chains from the Indies to Seville.
Columbus’ log book - or, more accurately, Bartolomé de las Casas’ digest of Columbus’ log-book - gives us an account of the actual “discovery” on October 11 that is surprisingly matter-of-fact. There are a few sightings of sticks and other debris that seem to indicate that land might be near – and then, “The caravel Pinta, being swifter and sailing ahead of the Admiral, now sighted land and gave the signals which the Admiral had commanded” (p. 51). And with that, as editor Cohen aptly remarks, we get to hear “the Admiral’s actual words in his account of his first voyage and the discovery of these Indies” (p. 53).
It is interesting, to say the least, to hear Columbus’ initial impressions of the Indies and their people. Anyone who has ever visited the Bahamas will not be surprised to hear that Columbus finds the islands to be simply lovely. Of what is now the Bahamas’ Long Island, Columbus writes that “This island is very green, flat, and fertile, and I have no doubt that they sow and reap Indian corn and other crops throughout the year” (p. 64)
As for the Indigenous people of the islands, Columbus writes that “The people are very gentle and anxious to have the things we bring. Thinking that nothing will be given them, however, unless they give something in exchange, and having nothing to give, they take anything they can, jump into the water, and swim away. But they will give all that they do possess for anything that is given to them, exchanging things even for bits of broken crockery or broken glass cups” (p. 56). One day later, observing an Indigenous village from his boat, he records how the villagers asked “if we came from the sky. One old man got into the boat, and all the others, men and women alike, shouted, ‘Come and see the men who have come from the skies; and bring them food and drink’” (p. 57).
The reader also gets a grim sense of the shape of things to come when Columbus says of the Indigenous people that “They have no religion [!] and I think that they would be very quickly Christianized, for they have a very ready understanding” (p. 64). He also assumes that when the Spaniards send future expeditions, “we shall be favourably received and the natives may give us of all they possess” (p. 63). The arrogant assumption of cultural superiority, and of the right to take what one wants on that basis, could not be more clear.
If Columbus’ sense of how to interact with people from other cultures seems lacking – well, so does his sense of geography. Columbus repeatedly makes clear that he thinks he’s reached Asia, saying on 21 October that “I shall set out for another large island which, according to the indications given me by the Indians whom I have aboard, must be Chipangu [Japan]. They, however, call it Colba [Cuba]” (p. 71). Columbus adds that “I am determined to go to the city of Quinsay” (p. 71) – meaning, as the commentator points out, Hangzhou, the old capital of the Khans of China.
With Cuba being a large island that is close to a massive mainland, I originally thought that Columbus made the mistake of assuming that Cuba was Japan, and that the nearby mainland of the Americas was China. Reading The Four Voyages, however, cleared things up for me considerably. In a February 1493 letter written to various correspondents, Columbus recalls that “When I reached Cuba, I followed its north coast westwards, and found it so extensive that I thought this must be the mainland, the province of Cathay [China]” (p. 115).
Editor Cohen notes, in that regard, that while Columbus seems to accept “the native story that Cuba is an island which they can circumnavigate in something more than twenty-one days”, he simultaneously “insists here and later, during the second voyage, that it is in fact part of the Asiatic mainland.” Columbus clearly had trouble letting go of his preconceptions.
Throughout The Four Voyages, one gets a strong sense of certain aspects of Columbus’ character. He clearly thinks of himself as a Man of Destiny, whose destiny is bound up with that of Spain and the Catholic Church; he is hyperconscious of having enemies, and always feels beset by them; and he knows which side his pan con tomate is buttered on, and therefore seizes upon every opportunity to ingratiate himself with his royal patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Hernando Colon, in a passage from The Life of the Admiral, reveals these aspects of Columbus’ character when he quotes from a letter in which he describes the voyagers’ encounter with a sea storm on Saint Valentine’s Day 1493:
“I should have had less difficulty in withstanding this storm if I had only been in personal danger, since I know that I owe my life to my Supreme Creator and He has so many times before saved me when I have been near to death that actually to die would hardly have cost me greater suffering. But what caused me infinite pain and grief was the thought that after it had pleased the Lord to inspire me with faith and assurance to undertake this enterprise, in which he had now granted me success, at the very moment when my opponents would have been proved wrong and your Highnesses would have been endowed by me with glory and increase of your high estate, the Lord might choose to prevent all this by my death.” (pp. 101-02)
Columbus’ sense of being ever beset by enemies certainly comes through here – as does the way in which he persistently links his destiny with not only the Spanish throne and the Catholic Church, but also the will of God Himself, as when he talks of how “I was comforted by my faith that Our Lord would not allow a project for the exaltation of His Church, which I had carried out in the face of such opposition and dangers, to remain incomplete and myself to be ruined” (p. 102).
Columbus did survive the storm, and returned to Spain to bestow riches of the New World upon his royal patrons. In another passage from The Life of the Admiral Hernando Colon recalls how Columbus, “on reaching Burgos…made a handsome present to their Majesties of many objects”, among which were “many grains of unworked gold, some very small and some as large as a bean or a chickpea, and a few the size of a pigeon’s egg”. Colon emphasizes how “the Catholic sovereigns accepted this gift most joyfully, and thanked the Admiral for the great services he had performed” (p. 203). Columbus must have felt as if he were on top of the world.
By the time of Columbus’ third voyage of 1498-1500, one would think that Columbus had learned a thing or two about the geography of the lands that he had “discovered” – but unfortunately, he was still clinging to some highly inaccurate preconceptions. In a letter sent to the Spanish sovereigns from the island of Hispaniola, he looks back at having “discovered in a very short time 333 leagues of mainland, the end of the East” – a claim that editor Cohen duly footnotes as an example of how, “In spite of all evidence, Columbus still claimed that Cuba was the extreme eastern extension of the Asiatic mainland” (p. 206).
It’s not long, however, before Columbus gets away from his stubbornly wrong geography and returns to his regular practice of complaining, stating that “abuse broke out and disparagement of the undertaking began, because I had not immediately sent back ships laden with gold.” As Columbus sees it, “No one considered the shortness of the time or the many difficulties that I described in my letters. And so, for my sins – or, as I think it will prove, for my salvation – I became an object of loathing, and objections were made to all my wishes and demands” (p. 206). While he hastens to thank the sovereigns for their smiling expressions of support, one can’t help reflecting that the King and Queen of Spain probably received letters from Columbus with mixed emotions at best.
And the letter that Columbus sent from Jamaica, on 7 July 1503, must have really thrown the King and Queen of Spain for the proverbial loop. Historians can tell you that Columbus’ mismanagement of the American colonies, coupled with infighting among ambitious rivals, led to Columbus’ downfall. It’s complicated. But Columbus tries to simplify it as a plot against him – belabouring his ill fortune, complaining of “the unparalleled wrong that I have suffered”, telling of how he was “suddenly arrested and put aboard a ship, naked, ill-treated and loaded with chains; and this without trial or sentence.” He adds that “I came to serve at the age of twenty-eight and today I have not a hair on my head that is not grey. My body is sick and wasted. All that I and my brothers had has been taken from us, down to our very coats, without my being heard or seen, and I have suffered great dishonour.” And he closes with an openly emotional plea for royal sympathy:
I am ruined, as I have said; till now I have wept for others. May Heaven now have pity on me and earth weep for me. Of worldly possessions I have not even a farthing to offer for my spirit’s good. Here in the Indies I am cut off from the prescribed forms of religion, alone in my troubles, sick, in daily expectation of death and surrounded by a million hostile savages full of cruelty, and so far from the Holy Sacraments of the Blessed Church that my soul will be forgotten if it leaves my body. Weep for me, whoever has charity, truth, and justice! (p. 303)
Relatively few people would be likely to weep for Christopher Columbus today. His place in history is not what it was back when Columbus statues were being placed in major U.S. cities, often in Italian-American areas where the Genoa-born navigator was long a hero. In Baltimore, for example, the Columbus monument that had been a feature of the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood since 1984 was pulled down by protesters in 2020; the fragments of the statue were then dumped into Jones Falls, a canal that drains into Baltimore Harbour. A local Knights of Columbus chapter, finding that the statue could not be repaired, has declared plans to “reproduce” the statue.
Yet Columbus – whatever you or I may think of him – remains historically important; and this edition of The Four Voyages continues to serve as a valuable resource for readers who want to learn more about Columbus and his time.
Read
October 28, 2018I was dreading this book at first - Christopher Columbus has always reminded me of having to learn boring, heroic stories of early Americans in middle school. But by the first few pages of this I was completely engaged, then increasingly obsessed. I can't believe this guy! First, he lies to his crew about how far they're going. They think they're going to be on the sea for a few weeks and then get to China or India or somewhere thereabouts. Um...wrong. Columbus realizes the journey is going to take longer than he expected so he starts keeping two sets of mileage numbers - the real tally of miles and a lesser tally which he tells his crew so they don't freak out and mutiny his ass. About a month in, everybody starts getting really nervous. There is no land - so everything becomes a sign of land - every bird, piece of grass - hell, by the end their toenails are a sure sign of land.
Then they see it - and Columbus figures he has hit the islands of Japan but really - oh Columbus! - he is sailing around Cuba and Haiti. Considering the task before him - you know - upending Europe's concept of the universe - Columbus is considerably less bright than he needs to be. His men and, most likely, the Arawak natives realize this immediately and give him all sorts of trouble. But you can't accuse Columbus of not being determined - he wants one thing and one thing only: gold. It is always just out of his reach. Every native village says that gold is in the next village (or at least that's what Columbus thinks they're saying. In a terrible ironic twist for Columbus, the natives of one village tell Columbus they have gold in their huts, but Columbus thinks they're talking about another island. This makes for one of the most hilarious translator's footnotes I've ever seen).
So much of the focus on Columbus these days is focused on correcting for the fact that native history has been actively erased by whites for 450 out of the last 500 years - and this is understandable. But you can't finish reading this book without having a sense of Columbus as a tragic figure - a man whose determination brought him glory back in Europe, but eventually destroyed him as he became increasingly delusional and desperate in his search to find gold.
Then they see it - and Columbus figures he has hit the islands of Japan but really - oh Columbus! - he is sailing around Cuba and Haiti. Considering the task before him - you know - upending Europe's concept of the universe - Columbus is considerably less bright than he needs to be. His men and, most likely, the Arawak natives realize this immediately and give him all sorts of trouble. But you can't accuse Columbus of not being determined - he wants one thing and one thing only: gold. It is always just out of his reach. Every native village says that gold is in the next village (or at least that's what Columbus thinks they're saying. In a terrible ironic twist for Columbus, the natives of one village tell Columbus they have gold in their huts, but Columbus thinks they're talking about another island. This makes for one of the most hilarious translator's footnotes I've ever seen).
So much of the focus on Columbus these days is focused on correcting for the fact that native history has been actively erased by whites for 450 out of the last 500 years - and this is understandable. But you can't finish reading this book without having a sense of Columbus as a tragic figure - a man whose determination brought him glory back in Europe, but eventually destroyed him as he became increasingly delusional and desperate in his search to find gold.
August 2, 2022
I read this out of curiosity and I did not anticipated being so utterly drawn in by the story. Love him or hate him, this work is certainly worth the read.
January 24, 2023
Important historic records, but never something I would recommend to anyone. Surprisingly an easy read. I know original sources are important, but it's usually more fun to read a description from a modern historian. Another old college book I'm giving away.
August 4, 2018
Marco Polo’nun anlattığı zenginliklere ulaşmayı amaçlayarak yolan çıkan Kristof Kolomb’un Hindistan zannederek ulaştığı Yeni Dünya yolculuğunu anlattığı "Seyir Defterleri / The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus / Diario de a Bordo", okuyucuya sadece Yeni Dünya’nın keşfiyle ilgili oldukça zengin bir arşiv sunmakla kalmıyor aynı zamanda Kolomb’un kişiliği hakkında da ilgi çekici detaylar vererek ünlü kaşifi daha yakından tanımamızı sağlıyor. Hristiyanlığı yaymak adına kendini seçilmiş kişi olarak gören cesur ve atılgan Kolomb’un gittiği yerlerin Hindistan olmadığını ölene kadar farketmediğini okuduğumuz kitapta kaşifin altına ve dine düşkünlüğü öne çıkıyor. Yerlilere olabildiğince saygılı ve iyi davranmasına rağmen alttan alta köleliği savunan Kolomb, köle ticaretinin ve sömürgeciliğin ilk işaretlerini veriyor. Özellikle ilk yolculuğuna ait notlarla okuyucuya oldukça heyecanlı bir okuma keyfi sunan seyir defterinin diğer bölümlerini kayıp olması sebebiyle sadece Kolomb’un mektuplarıyla okuma şansı buluyoruz. Her edebiyat ve tarih severin kesinlikle okuması gereken eserler arasında olan “Seyir Defterleri”ni okuduktan sonra Ridley Scott’ın "1492: Conquest of Paradise" filmini en azından kafada canlandırabilmek niyetine izlemekte fayda var.
04.08.2018
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
04.08.2018
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
July 2, 2008
This is a great book! It's accounts of all four of Columbus' voyages from his son and the official historian who knew Columbus. Even though, Columbus' actual logs have been lost to history, these two men quote him a lot so it's almost like he wrote it himself. It's cool to see what actually happened on those voyages that began America as we know it. The best part to me is discovering how inept Christopher Columbus really was as an explorer. It is more and more clear to me that God truly inspired and used Columbus to further His purposes. That's the only explanation. This is a surprisingly easy read, and if you want the REAL story, this is the book for you.
Read
January 5, 2025Dnf.... Maybe I'll come back to it. I just have to not get so angry reading it.
September 28, 2024
nonononnnon posta de las peores lecturas del año. que embole man
Read
April 19, 2021müthiş bir deneyim.
April 12, 2025
Una fuente histórica interesante y muy valiosa, cuya lectura me costó mucho. Este libro recoge una serie de documentos con los cuales se intenta recomponer lo que queda de la escritura original de Cristóbal Colón. Su diario del primer viaje hacia lo que hoy es América, "recuperado" (e intervenido) por Bartolomé de las Casas para la escritura de su obra; y las relaciones de los tres viajes siguientes, reconstruidas parcialmente con lo que se pudo conservar, cartas a los reyes católicos principalmente. Finalmente, también se puede leer el testamento del navegante.
Los textos incluidos en el libro son muy importantes como fuente histórica. Más allá de toda la cuestión del "descubrimiento" de América, hay que saber visualizar el carácter performativo que tuvo cada acción a lo largo de los viajes. Y a su vez, vale tener en cuenta los proyectos que dieron lugar a que suceda lo que sucedió e impulsaron estos viajes y otros. Un proyecto político, expansivo por parte de la corona española; y en paralelo un proyecto religioso de cristianización con alcance global. Hay que acercarse a estos textos con cuidado, pues puede ser tentador caer en anacronismos y juzgar a los protagonistas de los hechos acaecidos hace 500 años con la mirada del hoy. Siento que la lectura del diario humaniza un poco una figura tan demonizada como la de Colón. Y ello no es validar todo lo que ocurrió durante y después de la conquista, sino entender que el navegante, al igual que otros personajes quizá "tristemente célebres", era un hombre de su época.
La lectura también tiene otra gran dificultad y es el formato y lenguaje en que está escrita. Al menos en esta edición de Consuelo Varela, seguramente de las más fieles al original en la medida de lo posible, nos encontramos con un castellano antiguo que no siempre es sencillo de comprender. Y otros problemas están en el formato de registro, que hace a la lectura muy repetitiva y densa, con solo algunos momentos en los que se vuelve puntualmente interesante. Estas son dificultades propias del texto y objetivos de escritura originales: rendir cuentas a los reyes católicos. Y a la vez el texto es un híbrido, por la intervención de Las Casas. Pasajes en tercera persona (lo cual sería imposible si pensamos en un diario personal) o interlocuciones anacrónicas, hacen del texto una especie de compuesto extraño, a veces confuso, que alterna diferentes formas de comentar y narrar lo sucedido.
Me costó mucho la lectura, y es por eso la calificación tan baja. Se me hizo eterna, interminable, y más allá de que reconocía la importancia del libro, me costaba enfocarme y prestarle una lectura atenta como lo requiere. Aunque me alegra tener que haberlo leido para la facultad, creo que es un libro que me dejó al borde del bloqueo lector. En lo posible buscaré intercalar alguna lectura más sencilla o amena en los próximos días.
Los textos incluidos en el libro son muy importantes como fuente histórica. Más allá de toda la cuestión del "descubrimiento" de América, hay que saber visualizar el carácter performativo que tuvo cada acción a lo largo de los viajes. Y a su vez, vale tener en cuenta los proyectos que dieron lugar a que suceda lo que sucedió e impulsaron estos viajes y otros. Un proyecto político, expansivo por parte de la corona española; y en paralelo un proyecto religioso de cristianización con alcance global. Hay que acercarse a estos textos con cuidado, pues puede ser tentador caer en anacronismos y juzgar a los protagonistas de los hechos acaecidos hace 500 años con la mirada del hoy. Siento que la lectura del diario humaniza un poco una figura tan demonizada como la de Colón. Y ello no es validar todo lo que ocurrió durante y después de la conquista, sino entender que el navegante, al igual que otros personajes quizá "tristemente célebres", era un hombre de su época.
La lectura también tiene otra gran dificultad y es el formato y lenguaje en que está escrita. Al menos en esta edición de Consuelo Varela, seguramente de las más fieles al original en la medida de lo posible, nos encontramos con un castellano antiguo que no siempre es sencillo de comprender. Y otros problemas están en el formato de registro, que hace a la lectura muy repetitiva y densa, con solo algunos momentos en los que se vuelve puntualmente interesante. Estas son dificultades propias del texto y objetivos de escritura originales: rendir cuentas a los reyes católicos. Y a la vez el texto es un híbrido, por la intervención de Las Casas. Pasajes en tercera persona (lo cual sería imposible si pensamos en un diario personal) o interlocuciones anacrónicas, hacen del texto una especie de compuesto extraño, a veces confuso, que alterna diferentes formas de comentar y narrar lo sucedido.
Me costó mucho la lectura, y es por eso la calificación tan baja. Se me hizo eterna, interminable, y más allá de que reconocía la importancia del libro, me costaba enfocarme y prestarle una lectura atenta como lo requiere. Aunque me alegra tener que haberlo leido para la facultad, creo que es un libro que me dejó al borde del bloqueo lector. En lo posible buscaré intercalar alguna lectura más sencilla o amena en los próximos días.
March 10, 2013
Golden conquest, exotic spices, the allure of trade, colonization and Christian conversion were the heart of Spanish interests in the exploration of the western Atlantic. Christopher Columbus was the master-mind behind this endeavor. A man of many mistakes, failures, and misconceptions, he was also the driving force of determination and conviction that convinced endorsement of his proposals by the King and Queen of Spain. The documented voyages of Columbus and his quest to discover a western route to the East Indies revealed countless contradictions that depicted more than just details of what happened, but perspectives that explained the mind-set of Columbus and those that sailed with him. Documentation of the voyages followed the rise and fall of Columbus’s favor with his royal sponsors, his men, and the natives of the new land by his account and that of others. J. M. Cohen’s Christopher Columbus: The Four Voyages, clearly depicted the similarities of each voyage, including discovery of new and beautiful lands and strange people, questionable leads for gold, and a marked distrust between Columbus and his men, the third voyage in particular highlighted his inability to control the sailors and settlers, his and their exasperation with the situation, and the disillusionment of all involved with the voyage. It was no longer a quest filled with hope and expectation, it was a mission of desperation to produce results. However, due to the dissention and deception of certain men under his command and the consequent loss of royal favor, events of the third voyage ultimately divulged the discrediting of Columbus and the demise of his reputation.
After returning to Spain a success and a hero from his first voyage, Christopher Columbus embellished his findings in the new world. He downplayed the mistrust that he had shared with his men and the captains of his other ships. He did this because he was interested in gaining more backers for his future voyages. Though his misinformation concerning the quantities of gold and spices in the New World were probably very sincerely believed by him, this greatly hindered his credibility with those sailors and settlers who signed up to travel to the New World. Accounts that Columbus gave of the New World were consistent throughout his voyages, proclaiming each new place was more beautiful than the lands described before. The descriptions were often fantastic and seemed impossible to conceive. One such account described by him and retold by Bartolomé De Las Casas, “This island is very green, flat and fertile, and I have no doubt that they sow and reap Indian corn and other crops throughout the year. I saw many trees very unlike ours. Many of them had several branches of different kinds coming from one root.”(64) Also, the description of the natives was quite similar in each voyage. The natives were described as a very peaceful people who were naked with straight course black hair and unarmed with traditional weapons. According to both Columbus and Bartolomé De Las Casas, they were eager to give the Spaniards everything that they owned for small tokes such as glass beads and leather tags. Columbus’s design for enslaving the natives due to their apparent peaceful and accepting behavior undoubtedly set a poor precedent for the men he left behind to set up a Spanish outpost.
Columbus set a growing precedent for mistrust in him from his voyage companions by lying to them on various accounts as it suited him and the situation. He doctored the distance logs on numerous accounts in order to make the men believe that they had not gone as far as they actually had. He also made it no secret that he did not like and did not trust Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the captain of the Nina. This all being said, the problems with Columbus’s third voyage were set up by the failures of his first and second voyages. The “Indians” were exploited from the start. The men Columbus brought with him in the first and second voyages were men of exploration and adventure who had been lured with the promise of riches. Columbus’s embellishments concerning the gold and spices in the New World came back to haunt him as the men realized that there were no massive gold stocks. The gold that was found in the New World was very thin was difficult to obtain. The men were not obliged to recognize any human rights of the Indians and as such treated them with violence and force except under the watchful eye of Columbus. While Columbus was gone, the men left behind at the Indian village on Hispaniola were annihilated by the Indians because they had raped their women and abused the Indians, attempting to force them into labor. “The Christians were committing innumerable outrages for which they were mortally hated by the Indians, and the Indians were refusing to return to obedience.” (188) Though Columbus condoned slavery, he was at the command of his royal sponsors to not take slaves and to treat the Indians with the respect that one would give to a newly converted Christian.
The most pointed deception of Columbus was committed by the captain Roldan, who convinced several of the men that Columbus was cheating them out of their fortunes. They, in turn convinced many of the Indians that Columbus was responsible for their abuse. This is the single undermining of him that led to his fall from grace. The men under Roldan were eventually sent back to Spain by Columbus. They reported to people of the court that Columbus was a horrible governor and that he and his brothers were abusing power and hoarding fortunes for themselves. This caused King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to send a man named “Bobadilla” to go to the New World and perform an inquiry to get to the bottom of the whole business. According to Columbus, Bobadilla came and seized all his possessions, gave no inquiry, and obtained power as governor without ever questioning him. Instead he sent him and his brother back to Spain in chains, and sold all of their acquired possessions and pocketed the rewards for himself.
It is apparent that the slant of Columbus’s account holds himself as the victim of circumstance and if one were to go by the book alone, it is easy to see that he seems correct in his depiction. Never the less, it is very apparent that the third voyage marks a pointed change in events as compared to all of the other New World voyages in that it is a voyage of desperation on Columbus’s part, the events leading to it and included in it have set the stage for his disgrace, and the natives of the New World as well as the men involved in the voyage and previous voyages are disillusioned to the point of anarchy. Christopher Columbus, though a great man and visionary, was simply incapable of maintaining control over his findings in addition to continuing his quest of exploration. Without a doubt he and his ideas helped to determine the course of events in history, but his mistakes and misconceptions caused his own reputation to be failed. The third voyage was the tell-tale example of how a man with so much vested in his own destiny could spark his own ruin.
After returning to Spain a success and a hero from his first voyage, Christopher Columbus embellished his findings in the new world. He downplayed the mistrust that he had shared with his men and the captains of his other ships. He did this because he was interested in gaining more backers for his future voyages. Though his misinformation concerning the quantities of gold and spices in the New World were probably very sincerely believed by him, this greatly hindered his credibility with those sailors and settlers who signed up to travel to the New World. Accounts that Columbus gave of the New World were consistent throughout his voyages, proclaiming each new place was more beautiful than the lands described before. The descriptions were often fantastic and seemed impossible to conceive. One such account described by him and retold by Bartolomé De Las Casas, “This island is very green, flat and fertile, and I have no doubt that they sow and reap Indian corn and other crops throughout the year. I saw many trees very unlike ours. Many of them had several branches of different kinds coming from one root.”(64) Also, the description of the natives was quite similar in each voyage. The natives were described as a very peaceful people who were naked with straight course black hair and unarmed with traditional weapons. According to both Columbus and Bartolomé De Las Casas, they were eager to give the Spaniards everything that they owned for small tokes such as glass beads and leather tags. Columbus’s design for enslaving the natives due to their apparent peaceful and accepting behavior undoubtedly set a poor precedent for the men he left behind to set up a Spanish outpost.
Columbus set a growing precedent for mistrust in him from his voyage companions by lying to them on various accounts as it suited him and the situation. He doctored the distance logs on numerous accounts in order to make the men believe that they had not gone as far as they actually had. He also made it no secret that he did not like and did not trust Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the captain of the Nina. This all being said, the problems with Columbus’s third voyage were set up by the failures of his first and second voyages. The “Indians” were exploited from the start. The men Columbus brought with him in the first and second voyages were men of exploration and adventure who had been lured with the promise of riches. Columbus’s embellishments concerning the gold and spices in the New World came back to haunt him as the men realized that there were no massive gold stocks. The gold that was found in the New World was very thin was difficult to obtain. The men were not obliged to recognize any human rights of the Indians and as such treated them with violence and force except under the watchful eye of Columbus. While Columbus was gone, the men left behind at the Indian village on Hispaniola were annihilated by the Indians because they had raped their women and abused the Indians, attempting to force them into labor. “The Christians were committing innumerable outrages for which they were mortally hated by the Indians, and the Indians were refusing to return to obedience.” (188) Though Columbus condoned slavery, he was at the command of his royal sponsors to not take slaves and to treat the Indians with the respect that one would give to a newly converted Christian.
The most pointed deception of Columbus was committed by the captain Roldan, who convinced several of the men that Columbus was cheating them out of their fortunes. They, in turn convinced many of the Indians that Columbus was responsible for their abuse. This is the single undermining of him that led to his fall from grace. The men under Roldan were eventually sent back to Spain by Columbus. They reported to people of the court that Columbus was a horrible governor and that he and his brothers were abusing power and hoarding fortunes for themselves. This caused King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to send a man named “Bobadilla” to go to the New World and perform an inquiry to get to the bottom of the whole business. According to Columbus, Bobadilla came and seized all his possessions, gave no inquiry, and obtained power as governor without ever questioning him. Instead he sent him and his brother back to Spain in chains, and sold all of their acquired possessions and pocketed the rewards for himself.
It is apparent that the slant of Columbus’s account holds himself as the victim of circumstance and if one were to go by the book alone, it is easy to see that he seems correct in his depiction. Never the less, it is very apparent that the third voyage marks a pointed change in events as compared to all of the other New World voyages in that it is a voyage of desperation on Columbus’s part, the events leading to it and included in it have set the stage for his disgrace, and the natives of the New World as well as the men involved in the voyage and previous voyages are disillusioned to the point of anarchy. Christopher Columbus, though a great man and visionary, was simply incapable of maintaining control over his findings in addition to continuing his quest of exploration. Without a doubt he and his ideas helped to determine the course of events in history, but his mistakes and misconceptions caused his own reputation to be failed. The third voyage was the tell-tale example of how a man with so much vested in his own destiny could spark his own ruin.
September 8, 2024
We all know Christopher Columbus more or less. He was the first person to discover the American continent... Of course, he thought he had found India. The book describes his four voyages to the continent in as much detail as possible. I'm glad I read it, because I learned that Christopher Columbus was not the great hero he was made out to be. He is a very disgusting and selfish person at heart. When he first explored the area, the natives were, as one might expect, unaware of civilization, unable to speak, and completely naked. They showed endless joy and reverence, believing that Columbus and the others had come from heaven, and they had no weapons. If they attacked them, they would probably be too surprised to respond. And Columbus took advantage of this helplessness and ignorance, ruthlessly taking many of them captive, some to take to Spain, others to make his own slaves. And started colonialism. In fact, geographical discoveries brought with them a disaster, namely colonialism. Guess who it's because of?
December 20, 2024
This was my first time reading a historical account and it was both more exciting and more dull than I was expecting. Irrespective of my thoughts towards Columbus the person, the actual voyages, encounters with the Natives, occasional scheme, and new-world civilization building were interesting and insightful. The trials Columbus dealt with on the fourth voyage were legitimately gripping. It's not realistic to expect an entire book based on real-world happenings can maintain an action-movie like pace, but when it does come through it's thrilling.
Events do start to blend together between the four voyages, causing some feelings of repetition. The manner in which Columbus trades with the Natives (trading away Spanish knickknacks for precious Native objects) is largely the same from the first voyage to the fourth, for example. The sudden Spanish political drama that unfolds in the third voyage is probably very neat, but without context and suddenly having all these new people with diverse sets of motives thrust upon you is difficult to follow.
The most interesting part of the book was undoubtably Columbus himself. His struggles attempting to satisfy his crew, his sovereigns, and himself humanized the man for me. As someone who's been apart of a couple group projects: the urge to ensure everything is being done perfectly and not trusting anyone is something I can relate to. Capturing Natives and bringing across an ocean to die of disease is something I struggle a bit more to relate to. He was certainly "problematic", yet he did show more restraint towards the Natives than I was expecting. Him instructing his crew to leave villages untouched when attempting to establish contact was something I genuinely did not know and something I would not have expected out of Columbus. While this was mostly for pragmatic reasons (i.e. establishing trade partners), my view of Columbus the solely evil conquistador was challenged numerous times in the story. That being said, the wild theories he proposes about the shape of the world, the insane Biblical connections he makes to the new-world, and his stubborn refusal to believe this land wasn't Asia makes me question his intelligence more after reading than before.
If you're interested in the early exploration of the Americas, I can recommend this book (even if at times you'll need to sit through some wild ramblings). If you're looking for a book of quests and adventures, probably look elsewhere.
Events do start to blend together between the four voyages, causing some feelings of repetition. The manner in which Columbus trades with the Natives (trading away Spanish knickknacks for precious Native objects) is largely the same from the first voyage to the fourth, for example. The sudden Spanish political drama that unfolds in the third voyage is probably very neat, but without context and suddenly having all these new people with diverse sets of motives thrust upon you is difficult to follow.
The most interesting part of the book was undoubtably Columbus himself. His struggles attempting to satisfy his crew, his sovereigns, and himself humanized the man for me. As someone who's been apart of a couple group projects: the urge to ensure everything is being done perfectly and not trusting anyone is something I can relate to. Capturing Natives and bringing across an ocean to die of disease is something I struggle a bit more to relate to. He was certainly "problematic", yet he did show more restraint towards the Natives than I was expecting. Him instructing his crew to leave villages untouched when attempting to establish contact was something I genuinely did not know and something I would not have expected out of Columbus. While this was mostly for pragmatic reasons (i.e. establishing trade partners), my view of Columbus the solely evil conquistador was challenged numerous times in the story. That being said, the wild theories he proposes about the shape of the world, the insane Biblical connections he makes to the new-world, and his stubborn refusal to believe this land wasn't Asia makes me question his intelligence more after reading than before.
If you're interested in the early exploration of the Americas, I can recommend this book (even if at times you'll need to sit through some wild ramblings). If you're looking for a book of quests and adventures, probably look elsewhere.
January 22, 2026
Libro para o TFG, doutra maneira creo que non o tería rematado...
September 8, 2024
Love a linked pair I just love iiiiiiit.
October 7, 2024
Columbus was a narcissist.
March 27, 2012
You probably know the story of Columbus, right? How he sailed to the new world with three ships: the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. That he was looking for a trade route to the Far East and thought he landed somewhere in India. Maybe you know he went on four voyages and that he was a strange guy.
But there's a lot more to him than what's commonly assumed. If you want the full story, or least a first-hand look at Columbus the man and what it was like to travel with him, The Four Voyages is a great place to start.
In these pages, Columbus comes off as alternately paranoid, thinking everyone on his crew is out to get him, and single-minded. He claimed to have spent days at the wheel of the ship, ful 24-hour days without sleep, trying to get where he needed to go. He was devoutly religious, always careful to praise the holy trinity and occasionally claims to have heard God speaking to him. But he also comes off as a hell of a captain. In one voyage, he ended up in modern-day South America and had to return to Hispanola for supplies. With no frame of reference other than the Cape Verdun Islands, located on the other side of the ocean, Columbus made a nearly direct path to his destination through unexplored waters. He knew how to the get the most out of his ship when he absolutely had to.
The four explorations are the meat and potatoes of this book and they live up to expectations. Between stories of their first contact with the native Arawak people and Columbus being stranded in Jamaica, there's a wealth of adventure here. There's fighting with the cannibalistic Carib tribes, plots to remove Columbus from power and, most memorably, the story of Columbus being stranded with two unseaworthy ships on Jamaica, surrounded by natives planning to kil him and his crewmen. It's harrowing stuff. Columbus certainly earned his reputation.
As for this edition, Cohen's translation is clear and easy to read, plus he's added tons of footnotes to explain just what's being talked about: as noted, Columbus was not much a writer and his geography was usually muddled. Cohen's editing helps make this book accessible to casual readers. What's better is how he's put this book together, weaving back and forth from various sources, some of them quite dry and scholarly, to create a thrilling narrative of each journey. All throughout this book I kept thinking "Why hasn't HBO made a Columbus miniseries yet?" Maybe you'll get the same reaction.
But there's a lot more to him than what's commonly assumed. If you want the full story, or least a first-hand look at Columbus the man and what it was like to travel with him, The Four Voyages is a great place to start.
In these pages, Columbus comes off as alternately paranoid, thinking everyone on his crew is out to get him, and single-minded. He claimed to have spent days at the wheel of the ship, ful 24-hour days without sleep, trying to get where he needed to go. He was devoutly religious, always careful to praise the holy trinity and occasionally claims to have heard God speaking to him. But he also comes off as a hell of a captain. In one voyage, he ended up in modern-day South America and had to return to Hispanola for supplies. With no frame of reference other than the Cape Verdun Islands, located on the other side of the ocean, Columbus made a nearly direct path to his destination through unexplored waters. He knew how to the get the most out of his ship when he absolutely had to.
The four explorations are the meat and potatoes of this book and they live up to expectations. Between stories of their first contact with the native Arawak people and Columbus being stranded in Jamaica, there's a wealth of adventure here. There's fighting with the cannibalistic Carib tribes, plots to remove Columbus from power and, most memorably, the story of Columbus being stranded with two unseaworthy ships on Jamaica, surrounded by natives planning to kil him and his crewmen. It's harrowing stuff. Columbus certainly earned his reputation.
As for this edition, Cohen's translation is clear and easy to read, plus he's added tons of footnotes to explain just what's being talked about: as noted, Columbus was not much a writer and his geography was usually muddled. Cohen's editing helps make this book accessible to casual readers. What's better is how he's put this book together, weaving back and forth from various sources, some of them quite dry and scholarly, to create a thrilling narrative of each journey. All throughout this book I kept thinking "Why hasn't HBO made a Columbus miniseries yet?" Maybe you'll get the same reaction.
August 18, 2015
An excellent translated collation of Columbus's adventures into the unknown. You can't get much more fantastically real than the schemes, scrapes and discoveries that emerged from his fertile beliefs, nor meet a greater example of skill shaking hands with serendipity. Here be monsters, heads in honey baskets, and clouds that impersonate islands for days at a time. Locals heave armoured tortoises from their comfort zone with nothing but remora fish, stranded sailors eat last meal after last meal, and miracles become as inevitable as horror & eclipses.
It's a dreamscape of realities, stitched together from letters to sovereigns, family re-embroideries and naked truths laid bare under spanking new skies. You can't be sure the child sorceress had magic powders hidden about her, or that the mountain carved into a temple was ever visited at all. Certainly the footnotes help where they can, delving into detail and overlapping views, but generally they let the narrative flow freely through the stormy remnants of what is known.
I stuck with it through the more thorough and historical passages as I'm researching a short story on his thoughts and deeds. But i reckon anyone can get a something out of this seminal bit of boundary-crossing audacity.
4.5
It's a dreamscape of realities, stitched together from letters to sovereigns, family re-embroideries and naked truths laid bare under spanking new skies. You can't be sure the child sorceress had magic powders hidden about her, or that the mountain carved into a temple was ever visited at all. Certainly the footnotes help where they can, delving into detail and overlapping views, but generally they let the narrative flow freely through the stormy remnants of what is known.
I stuck with it through the more thorough and historical passages as I'm researching a short story on his thoughts and deeds. But i reckon anyone can get a something out of this seminal bit of boundary-crossing audacity.
4.5
July 18, 2020
Atlantik okyanusunda sürekli batıya giderek Çin'e ve Hindistan'a ulaşacağını düşünmüş Kolomb. Projesi Portekiz kralı tarafından reddedildikten sonra şansını İspanya'da dener. Kastilya Kralı Fernando ve Kraliçe Isabel bu planı, krallıklarının genişlemesi için bir fırsat görerek kabul ederler. Kolomb hayatının sonuna kadar kendini bu göreve adadığı dört yolculuk yapar.
Birinci yolculukta Kolomb'un tuttuğu notlar, Bartolome de las Casas'ın kaleminden özet halinde günümüze ulaşmış. Bu notlar kitabın dörtte üçünü oluşturuyor. Kitabın en ilginç bölümü de burasıydı bana göre. Denizcilerin adalardaki yerlilerle ilk temasları, ispanyolların sürekli altın aramaları, denizde başlarına gelen olaylar oldukça ilginçti. Diğer yolculuklara ait bölümler ise Kolomb'un yolladığı mektuplardan oluşuyor. Kolomb ölene dek yeni bir kıtaya ayak bastığını anlayamıyor maalesef. Özetle katolik ve dindar bir denizcinin maceralı ama şanssız hikayesi.
Birinci yolculukta Kolomb'un tuttuğu notlar, Bartolome de las Casas'ın kaleminden özet halinde günümüze ulaşmış. Bu notlar kitabın dörtte üçünü oluşturuyor. Kitabın en ilginç bölümü de burasıydı bana göre. Denizcilerin adalardaki yerlilerle ilk temasları, ispanyolların sürekli altın aramaları, denizde başlarına gelen olaylar oldukça ilginçti. Diğer yolculuklara ait bölümler ise Kolomb'un yolladığı mektuplardan oluşuyor. Kolomb ölene dek yeni bir kıtaya ayak bastığını anlayamıyor maalesef. Özetle katolik ve dindar bir denizcinin maceralı ama şanssız hikayesi.
April 28, 2025
Wow! I can’t believe I read such a thick book, just for kicks.
My kids and I learned about Columbus in homeschool. They asked me if he was a good or bad guy, and I realized that I didn’t really know. But I wanted to! I decided to be a good example of unbiased, scholarly research, so I headed straight for the primary sources. Now, here I am.
First of all, these accounts are more accessible and readable than I imagined. Columbus’s logbooks, letters he wrote, the words of his son, and other contemporaries are arranged chronologically to tell the stories of all four voyages. Who even knew he made four voyages?! Not me.
Did I figure out whether Columbus is good or bad? Nope, and I probably should’ve expected as much. Is anyone all good or all bad? No. Also, how much information and context are missing, for me to really make a determination? History is hard.
Here are things I leaned:
1. Columbus is more religious than I knew. Throughout his writings, he constantly praises and trusts in God. He sincerely wishes to spread Christianity to the New World, not through force, but friendship. Every disaster averted or blessing found is attributed to God.
2. Columbus is smarter than expected. He was a random guy from Italy, but he knew the writings of Ptolemy and many other great thinkers. He also knew the Bible inside-and-out. Most incredibly, he not only found Hispaniola and the other islands once, he found them multiple times! How?! I can’t wrap my head around how these ship captains were finding the right island destination, in all the wide open ocean. It’s incredible. Also, Columbus writes well. Probably better than most Americans nowadays. (Sorry, friends.)
3. There were cannibals in the New World. Also, syphillis came from the New World. The things you learn! Oh, and there was an all-woman island, just like the one that Wonder Woman came from. Also, the Indians thought the Spaniards were gods from the sky.
4. Sailors (and Columbus) are crazy. I do not understand how they survived months-long storms at sea, constantly starving, and being shipwrecked on deserted islands for months/years. Their ships would be trashed and they’d just park on a deserted island and somehow fix them. How?? Also, one time their ship was filled with holes, but they somehow sailed it for over a month while constantly bailing water out of it. That sounds terrifying! And apparently Columbus never slept, so his eyes would literally bleed. That’s intense.
5. Columbus had good intentions. In his writings from the first voyage, there are numerous instances where he praises the beauty, intelligence, kindness, and skill of the Natives. He wishes to befriend them and leave a good impression. They trade often. People jump off his boat and he lets them go. He doesn’t let his men throw Indians overboard when rations run low. He didn’t let sailors steal from the Indian homes. De Las Casas (the historian who documents many of the genocidal atrocities that come later) believed Columbus to be good man, unaware of how badly things would turn out.
6. BUT! Columbus wasn’t perfect. He made alliances to kill cannibal tribes. He exaggerated or lied in some of his letters about the treasures he discovered. He occasionally mentioned that some Natives would be good slaves, or even deserved it. He took Indians onto his ships (even all the way to Spain!) and it’s unclear whether they went voluntarily. (Though it seems at least two Indians went to Spain and back. Wild.) After settlements were destroyed, Columbus’s tone concerning the Indians temporarily darkened. There was an instance where one of Columbus’s sailors kidnapped and raped a girl, possibly with Columbus’s blessing. He taxes the Natives. His cultural/religious arrogance is obvious in his writings, as well as paranoia about those who hated him.
7. Many of the other Spaniards were 100% bad guys. They did evil, heinous things, whenever Columbus was away. (Not a lot of these are detailed in the text, since the focus is on Columbus, and not the rebels left behind on Hispaniola.) The rebel leaders and replacement governors allowed and encouraged terrible actions. Mass rapes and slavery, as well as the murder of 80+ tribal chiefs, happened under these leaders during the time of Columbus.
8. Columbus was a terrible governor. Every time he left the island, everything went off the rails. Rebellions, cruelty to natives, thieving, coups, etc. In his absence, the Indians and Spaniards were at constant war. At his return, he could not get things under control. Roldan, the rebel leader, basically owned him.
9. Columbus went home to Spain from his third voyage in chains! His brothers, too. He was pardoned and restored by the Sovereigns.
10. Columbus always stubbornly believed that he had reached the outskirts of Asia on his voyages. He never gave up this belief.
If this seems like a disjointed, amalgamation of facts, you’re right. It is. It’s what I learned, though it’s not the clean cut answer I hoped I’d find. Columbus doesn’t seem good, per se, but he also doesn’t seem to be a monster, like many of those that came after him. It seems, perhaps, that the atrocities committed by the Spanish are wholly attributed to Columbus, because he’s the one that opened the door to the New World. But did he, himself, participate in the rapes, torture, and genocide that have recently become more common knowledge? It doesn’t seem so. But did he allow it? Facilitate it? Approve of it? I don’t know.
I think the next stop in my research is Bartolome de las Casas. I’m not sure when I’ll have the gumption to tackle another primary source of this nature, but the case on Columbus remains open until I do.
My kids and I learned about Columbus in homeschool. They asked me if he was a good or bad guy, and I realized that I didn’t really know. But I wanted to! I decided to be a good example of unbiased, scholarly research, so I headed straight for the primary sources. Now, here I am.
First of all, these accounts are more accessible and readable than I imagined. Columbus’s logbooks, letters he wrote, the words of his son, and other contemporaries are arranged chronologically to tell the stories of all four voyages. Who even knew he made four voyages?! Not me.
Did I figure out whether Columbus is good or bad? Nope, and I probably should’ve expected as much. Is anyone all good or all bad? No. Also, how much information and context are missing, for me to really make a determination? History is hard.
Here are things I leaned:
1. Columbus is more religious than I knew. Throughout his writings, he constantly praises and trusts in God. He sincerely wishes to spread Christianity to the New World, not through force, but friendship. Every disaster averted or blessing found is attributed to God.
2. Columbus is smarter than expected. He was a random guy from Italy, but he knew the writings of Ptolemy and many other great thinkers. He also knew the Bible inside-and-out. Most incredibly, he not only found Hispaniola and the other islands once, he found them multiple times! How?! I can’t wrap my head around how these ship captains were finding the right island destination, in all the wide open ocean. It’s incredible. Also, Columbus writes well. Probably better than most Americans nowadays. (Sorry, friends.)
3. There were cannibals in the New World. Also, syphillis came from the New World. The things you learn! Oh, and there was an all-woman island, just like the one that Wonder Woman came from. Also, the Indians thought the Spaniards were gods from the sky.
4. Sailors (and Columbus) are crazy. I do not understand how they survived months-long storms at sea, constantly starving, and being shipwrecked on deserted islands for months/years. Their ships would be trashed and they’d just park on a deserted island and somehow fix them. How?? Also, one time their ship was filled with holes, but they somehow sailed it for over a month while constantly bailing water out of it. That sounds terrifying! And apparently Columbus never slept, so his eyes would literally bleed. That’s intense.
5. Columbus had good intentions. In his writings from the first voyage, there are numerous instances where he praises the beauty, intelligence, kindness, and skill of the Natives. He wishes to befriend them and leave a good impression. They trade often. People jump off his boat and he lets them go. He doesn’t let his men throw Indians overboard when rations run low. He didn’t let sailors steal from the Indian homes. De Las Casas (the historian who documents many of the genocidal atrocities that come later) believed Columbus to be good man, unaware of how badly things would turn out.
6. BUT! Columbus wasn’t perfect. He made alliances to kill cannibal tribes. He exaggerated or lied in some of his letters about the treasures he discovered. He occasionally mentioned that some Natives would be good slaves, or even deserved it. He took Indians onto his ships (even all the way to Spain!) and it’s unclear whether they went voluntarily. (Though it seems at least two Indians went to Spain and back. Wild.) After settlements were destroyed, Columbus’s tone concerning the Indians temporarily darkened. There was an instance where one of Columbus’s sailors kidnapped and raped a girl, possibly with Columbus’s blessing. He taxes the Natives. His cultural/religious arrogance is obvious in his writings, as well as paranoia about those who hated him.
7. Many of the other Spaniards were 100% bad guys. They did evil, heinous things, whenever Columbus was away. (Not a lot of these are detailed in the text, since the focus is on Columbus, and not the rebels left behind on Hispaniola.) The rebel leaders and replacement governors allowed and encouraged terrible actions. Mass rapes and slavery, as well as the murder of 80+ tribal chiefs, happened under these leaders during the time of Columbus.
8. Columbus was a terrible governor. Every time he left the island, everything went off the rails. Rebellions, cruelty to natives, thieving, coups, etc. In his absence, the Indians and Spaniards were at constant war. At his return, he could not get things under control. Roldan, the rebel leader, basically owned him.
9. Columbus went home to Spain from his third voyage in chains! His brothers, too. He was pardoned and restored by the Sovereigns.
10. Columbus always stubbornly believed that he had reached the outskirts of Asia on his voyages. He never gave up this belief.
If this seems like a disjointed, amalgamation of facts, you’re right. It is. It’s what I learned, though it’s not the clean cut answer I hoped I’d find. Columbus doesn’t seem good, per se, but he also doesn’t seem to be a monster, like many of those that came after him. It seems, perhaps, that the atrocities committed by the Spanish are wholly attributed to Columbus, because he’s the one that opened the door to the New World. But did he, himself, participate in the rapes, torture, and genocide that have recently become more common knowledge? It doesn’t seem so. But did he allow it? Facilitate it? Approve of it? I don’t know.
I think the next stop in my research is Bartolome de las Casas. I’m not sure when I’ll have the gumption to tackle another primary source of this nature, but the case on Columbus remains open until I do.
April 16, 2020
“I think they believe that we have come from the sky.” — Christopher Columbus (October 22, 1492)
The story of the four journeys Columbus made to the Americas in his own words. It is both a first hand account of the moment two peoples come into contact for the first time in 50,000 years, and a thrilling narrative of adventure and discovery.
Though not without his failings, Columbus was a remarkable man almost completely removed from the modern criticism he endures. From a literary standpoint: his account stands toe to toe with any of the great adventure novels. I could not recommend more highly.
The story of the four journeys Columbus made to the Americas in his own words. It is both a first hand account of the moment two peoples come into contact for the first time in 50,000 years, and a thrilling narrative of adventure and discovery.
Though not without his failings, Columbus was a remarkable man almost completely removed from the modern criticism he endures. From a literary standpoint: his account stands toe to toe with any of the great adventure novels. I could not recommend more highly.
February 17, 2022
The ships for the first voyage—the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María—were fitted out at Palos, on the Tinto River in Spain. Consortia put together by a royal treasury official and composed mainly of Genoese and Florentine bankers in Sevilla (Seville) provided at least 1,140,000 maravedis to outfit the expedition, and Columbus supplied more than a third of the sum contributed by the king and queen. Queen Isabella did not, then, have to pawn her jewels (a myth first put about by Bartolomé de Las Casas in the 16th century)
The little fleet left on August 3, 1492. The admiral’s navigational genius showed itself immediately, for they sailed southward to the Canary Islands, off the northwest African mainland, rather than sailing due west to the islands of the Azores. The westerlies prevailing in the Azores had defeated previous attempts to sail to the west, but in the Canaries the three ships could pick up the northeast trade winds; supposedly, they could trust to the westerlies for their return. After nearly a month in the Canaries the ships set out from San Sebastián de la Gomera on September 6.
On several occasions in September and early October, sailors spotted floating vegetation and various types of birds—all taken as signs that land was nearby. But by October 10 the crew had begun to lose patience, complaining that with their failure to make landfall, contrary winds and a shortage of provisions would keep them from returning home. Columbus allayed their fears, at least temporarily, and on October 12 land was sighted from the Pinta (though Columbus, on the Niña, later claimed the privilege for himself). The place of the first Caribbean landfall, called Guanahani, is hotly disputed, but San Salvador (Watlings) Island in the Bahamas is generally preferred to other Bahamian islands (Samana Cay, Rum Cay, or the Plana Cays) or to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Beyond planting the royal banner, however, Columbus spent little time there, being anxious to press on to Cipango, or Cipangu (Japan). He thought that he had found it in Cuba, where he landed on October 28, but he convinced himself by November 1 that Cuba was the Cathay mainland itself, though he had yet to see evidence of great cities. Thus, on December 5, he turned back southeastward to search for the fabled city of Zaiton (Quanzhou, China), missing through this decision his sole chance of setting foot on Florida soil.
Adverse winds carried the fleet to an island called Ayti (Haiti) by its Taino inhabitants; on December 6 Columbus renamed it La Isla Española, or Hispaniola. He seems to have thought that Hispaniola might be Cipango or, if not Cipango, then perhaps one of the legendarily rich isles from which King Solomon’s triennial fleet brought back gold, gems, and spices to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:11, 22); alternatively, he reasoned that the island could be related to the biblical kingdom of Sheba (Sabaʾ). There Columbus found at least enough gold and prosperity to save him from ridicule on his return to Spain. With the help of a Taino cacique, or Indian chief, named Guacanagarí, he set up a stockade on the northern coast of the island, named it La Navidad, and posted 39 men to guard it until his return. The accidental running aground of the Santa María on December 25, 1492, provided additional planks and provisions for the garrison.
On January 16, 1493, Columbus left with his remaining two ships for Spain. The journey back was a nightmare. The westerlies did indeed direct them homeward, but in mid-February a terrible storm engulfed the fleet. The Niña was driven to seek harbour at Santa Maria in the Azores, where Columbus led a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the shrine of the Virgin; however, hostile Portuguese authorities temporarily imprisoned the group. After securing their freedom Columbus sailed on, stormbound, and the damaged ship limped to port in Lisbon. There he was obliged to interview with King John II. These events left Columbus under the suspicion of collaborating with Spain’s enemies and cast a shadow on his return to Palos on March 15.
On this first voyage many tensions built up that were to remain through all of Columbus’s succeeding efforts. First and perhaps most damaging of all, the admiral’s apparently high religious and even mystical aspirations were incompatible with the realities of trading, competition, and colonization. Columbus never openly acknowledged this gulf and so was quite incapable of bridging it. The admiral also adopted a mode of sanctification and autocratic leadership that made him many enemies. Moreover, Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to his sovereigns and for himself, and this could be accomplished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts, especially on Hispaniola. Although he did control some of his men’s excesses, these developments blunted his ability to retain the high moral ground and the claim in particular that his “discoveries” were divinely ordained. Further, the Spanish court revived its latent doubts about the foreigner Columbus’s loyalty to Spain, and some of Columbus’s companions set themselves against him. Captain Martín Pinzón had disputed the route as the fleet reached the Bahamas; he had later sailed the Pinta away from Cuba, and Columbus, on November 21, failing to rejoin him until January 6. The Pinta made port at Bayona on its homeward journey, separately from Columbus and the Niña. Had Pinzón not died so soon after his return, Columbus’s command of the second voyage might have been less than assured. As it was, the Pinzón family became his rivals for reward.
The little fleet left on August 3, 1492. The admiral’s navigational genius showed itself immediately, for they sailed southward to the Canary Islands, off the northwest African mainland, rather than sailing due west to the islands of the Azores. The westerlies prevailing in the Azores had defeated previous attempts to sail to the west, but in the Canaries the three ships could pick up the northeast trade winds; supposedly, they could trust to the westerlies for their return. After nearly a month in the Canaries the ships set out from San Sebastián de la Gomera on September 6.
On several occasions in September and early October, sailors spotted floating vegetation and various types of birds—all taken as signs that land was nearby. But by October 10 the crew had begun to lose patience, complaining that with their failure to make landfall, contrary winds and a shortage of provisions would keep them from returning home. Columbus allayed their fears, at least temporarily, and on October 12 land was sighted from the Pinta (though Columbus, on the Niña, later claimed the privilege for himself). The place of the first Caribbean landfall, called Guanahani, is hotly disputed, but San Salvador (Watlings) Island in the Bahamas is generally preferred to other Bahamian islands (Samana Cay, Rum Cay, or the Plana Cays) or to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Beyond planting the royal banner, however, Columbus spent little time there, being anxious to press on to Cipango, or Cipangu (Japan). He thought that he had found it in Cuba, where he landed on October 28, but he convinced himself by November 1 that Cuba was the Cathay mainland itself, though he had yet to see evidence of great cities. Thus, on December 5, he turned back southeastward to search for the fabled city of Zaiton (Quanzhou, China), missing through this decision his sole chance of setting foot on Florida soil.
Adverse winds carried the fleet to an island called Ayti (Haiti) by its Taino inhabitants; on December 6 Columbus renamed it La Isla Española, or Hispaniola. He seems to have thought that Hispaniola might be Cipango or, if not Cipango, then perhaps one of the legendarily rich isles from which King Solomon’s triennial fleet brought back gold, gems, and spices to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:11, 22); alternatively, he reasoned that the island could be related to the biblical kingdom of Sheba (Sabaʾ). There Columbus found at least enough gold and prosperity to save him from ridicule on his return to Spain. With the help of a Taino cacique, or Indian chief, named Guacanagarí, he set up a stockade on the northern coast of the island, named it La Navidad, and posted 39 men to guard it until his return. The accidental running aground of the Santa María on December 25, 1492, provided additional planks and provisions for the garrison.
On January 16, 1493, Columbus left with his remaining two ships for Spain. The journey back was a nightmare. The westerlies did indeed direct them homeward, but in mid-February a terrible storm engulfed the fleet. The Niña was driven to seek harbour at Santa Maria in the Azores, where Columbus led a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the shrine of the Virgin; however, hostile Portuguese authorities temporarily imprisoned the group. After securing their freedom Columbus sailed on, stormbound, and the damaged ship limped to port in Lisbon. There he was obliged to interview with King John II. These events left Columbus under the suspicion of collaborating with Spain’s enemies and cast a shadow on his return to Palos on March 15.
On this first voyage many tensions built up that were to remain through all of Columbus’s succeeding efforts. First and perhaps most damaging of all, the admiral’s apparently high religious and even mystical aspirations were incompatible with the realities of trading, competition, and colonization. Columbus never openly acknowledged this gulf and so was quite incapable of bridging it. The admiral also adopted a mode of sanctification and autocratic leadership that made him many enemies. Moreover, Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to his sovereigns and for himself, and this could be accomplished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts, especially on Hispaniola. Although he did control some of his men’s excesses, these developments blunted his ability to retain the high moral ground and the claim in particular that his “discoveries” were divinely ordained. Further, the Spanish court revived its latent doubts about the foreigner Columbus’s loyalty to Spain, and some of Columbus’s companions set themselves against him. Captain Martín Pinzón had disputed the route as the fleet reached the Bahamas; he had later sailed the Pinta away from Cuba, and Columbus, on November 21, failing to rejoin him until January 6. The Pinta made port at Bayona on its homeward journey, separately from Columbus and the Niña. Had Pinzón not died so soon after his return, Columbus’s command of the second voyage might have been less than assured. As it was, the Pinzón family became his rivals for reward.
April 28, 2022
Fairly objective history about a man who, contrary to common belief, was actually “not a bad guy”. In this book you learn about what really happened in the West Indies. Columbus, a devout Catholic, may have made some mistakes but who wouldn’t in his position. Overall, he sought after good and actually helped a lot of people and blessed many of the native Indians. In many of the islands, these native Indians were not just innocent helpless people, but rather bloodthirsty, cannibalistic, human sacrificing wretches. Christianity needed to find these lawless lands. Take a read if you are genuinely curious about Columbus. If you are a blue hair blue check mark SJW, you probably won’t read this.
January 6, 2022
The ultimate evangelist
October 27, 2025
Christopher Columbus’s name is practically right up there with Hitler or Stalin in America these days for “historical bad guy” status. Smug neckbeards online every Columbus Day make a post about how he didn’t know where he was going, wasn’t the first to get there, spread catastrophic diseases, and ruthlessly committed genocide and rape to satiate his unquenchable thirst for native blood and gold.
As I long suspected, this cartoonish monstrosity is a bastardized version of the boring truth: that people are usually more complicated than being either a “bad guy” or “good guy.”
The Christopher Columbus you meet when studying this collection of primary documents is a contradictory figure. The editor describes him as “fluctuating between awed enthusiasm, paranoia, and eccentric geographical speculation.” He goes on to say that Columbus was “Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to ‘savages’ matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.”
That being said, perhaps the heaviest charges laid at Columbus’s feet seem to be against the bloodthirsty and cruel conquerors that came to the West Indies in his wake, who Bartolomé De Las Casas vividly depicts in his A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. These disgusting crimes happened, but they largely happened after Columbus’s four voyages and were not done directly by him. I say let’s blame the real criminals in this case instead of dumping a century’s worth of accusations on one guy.
The real Columbus seemed to be excited about seeing what he mistakenly thought was the Asiatic mainland, meeting the natives, doing evangelical work, and getting some fame and honor and gold out of the deal. He was a master seaman who somehow was skilled enough to sail where hardly any non-natives had been before, and yet so hilariously challenged geographically that he kept insisting that Cuba was the mainland against all common sense. Like any 15th century Spanish man meeting indigenous people for the first time, he made mistakes and did things that were not smart or morally correct in hindsight. And yet his four voyages “constitute one of the greatest adventure stories in history” (Laurence Bergreen).
History is rarely cut and dry, and the more you look at it the more complications and shades you see to each story. Once people realize that, and know that someone from history can be paradoxical, we’ll start to see things more for how they were rather than how we wish it or view it.
As for the experience reading these documents, I was surprised at how easy they were to read and informative they were while still retaining plenty of adventure entertainment. It’s astounding to be reading narratives where people are actually discovering and seeing the Americas for the first time, and that alone is historically invaluable regardless of where you stand on the Columbus controversy.
I’m docking this a star simply because there were several times where the narrative got lost in the weeds and I wasn’t sure what was going on because there was very little editorial notes tying together the sources and sections. I intend to read a couple other books on Columbus’s voyages and hopefully the narrative will become more clear from those versions of the accounts.
My opinions on all this may change depending on the other books I intend to read, but these are just a couple things I thought about while reading these 500+ year old documents. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of the Americas, the Caribbean, the New World era, or even adventure/exploration literature.
As I long suspected, this cartoonish monstrosity is a bastardized version of the boring truth: that people are usually more complicated than being either a “bad guy” or “good guy.”
The Christopher Columbus you meet when studying this collection of primary documents is a contradictory figure. The editor describes him as “fluctuating between awed enthusiasm, paranoia, and eccentric geographical speculation.” He goes on to say that Columbus was “Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to ‘savages’ matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.”
That being said, perhaps the heaviest charges laid at Columbus’s feet seem to be against the bloodthirsty and cruel conquerors that came to the West Indies in his wake, who Bartolomé De Las Casas vividly depicts in his A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. These disgusting crimes happened, but they largely happened after Columbus’s four voyages and were not done directly by him. I say let’s blame the real criminals in this case instead of dumping a century’s worth of accusations on one guy.
The real Columbus seemed to be excited about seeing what he mistakenly thought was the Asiatic mainland, meeting the natives, doing evangelical work, and getting some fame and honor and gold out of the deal. He was a master seaman who somehow was skilled enough to sail where hardly any non-natives had been before, and yet so hilariously challenged geographically that he kept insisting that Cuba was the mainland against all common sense. Like any 15th century Spanish man meeting indigenous people for the first time, he made mistakes and did things that were not smart or morally correct in hindsight. And yet his four voyages “constitute one of the greatest adventure stories in history” (Laurence Bergreen).
History is rarely cut and dry, and the more you look at it the more complications and shades you see to each story. Once people realize that, and know that someone from history can be paradoxical, we’ll start to see things more for how they were rather than how we wish it or view it.
As for the experience reading these documents, I was surprised at how easy they were to read and informative they were while still retaining plenty of adventure entertainment. It’s astounding to be reading narratives where people are actually discovering and seeing the Americas for the first time, and that alone is historically invaluable regardless of where you stand on the Columbus controversy.
I’m docking this a star simply because there were several times where the narrative got lost in the weeds and I wasn’t sure what was going on because there was very little editorial notes tying together the sources and sections. I intend to read a couple other books on Columbus’s voyages and hopefully the narrative will become more clear from those versions of the accounts.
My opinions on all this may change depending on the other books I intend to read, but these are just a couple things I thought about while reading these 500+ year old documents. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of the Americas, the Caribbean, the New World era, or even adventure/exploration literature.
September 11, 2022
This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the Americas. Translated from his own log or letters and writings by his son, this book details Columbus' four voyages to the New World, his thoughts and interactions with the indigenous people, and how the Spanish ultimately destroyed what they found. Columbus clearly was an amazing navigator and went to extremes to make sure his voyages were successful, including overestimating his progress to keep the crew from mutinying. To undertake such a voyage with so little information is incredible, especially compared to our modern world where most people won't venture outside their own house without a cell phone and are in constant contact with others. The book includes maps so you can see where Columbus landed as he made his way around the Caribbean and northern South America. Columbus describes how friendly and helpful the natives were upon first contact, and you can see how his thinking evolves from viewing them as interesting contacts to scheming how he can subvert their freedom and use them for his personal gain. Columbus very likely was a charismatic psychopath who was very good at getting people to go along with him but mostly thought about how he could use others for his own benefit. It is amazing that such a prosperous native population could be almost completely destroyed after only 50 years of contact, and how the Catholic church was complicit in the whole process. Anyone interested in history should read this book.
April 30, 2022
I really, really enjoyed this book. I read it to get a better understanding of how Columbus acted with respect to indigenous communities he encountered- was he a relatively benign explorer or a cruel despot? At the end, I’m not sure. I felt almost like Ferdinand and Isabela must have felt, asking “what the heck is going on over there?” Certainly the text portrays Columbus in a favorable light, but contemporaneous texts that I read through JSTOR presented a less favorable picture. Certainly there were troubles in the communities that Columbus founded, and it’s hard to think that Columbus bore no responsibility for the continual civil unrest and violence against indigenous peoples that followed him everywhere. But what personal actions did Columbus take in these matters? There was abuse and brutality toward indigenous peoples - but by Columbus himself? Or at his instruction (or permission)? Columbus seems to have been most interested in exploration and search for gold, and in such wanted amiable relations with indigenous people, since he so clearly needed their help to survive in an unknown environment.
This book kept my attention and the questions it raised continue to intrigue me. As such, it’s a great adventure tale, an interesting historical document, and an intellectual challenge. I highly recommend the book.
This book kept my attention and the questions it raised continue to intrigue me. As such, it’s a great adventure tale, an interesting historical document, and an intellectual challenge. I highly recommend the book.
May 20, 2019
This book is an important one to read and know for the historical background. Columbus spent years trying to convince monarchs of Europe to sponsor a journey out into an uncharted ocean with the expectation that he would run into Asia. Yes, he died thinking he had done just that, but the bravery and courage of such a man, sailing out into the unknown, should not be lightly dismissed.
What is helpful to observe is, as the journeys progress, how the poor choices of "colonists" turned what could have been an exchange of cultures, which continues to be done this day in neighboring countries, turned into unabashed exploitation, and where Columbus (and the Spanish monarchy's) desires tended towards evangelism and trading, those who they brought wanted a fresh start, with their own slaves and new rules. It's a story as old as time, and perfectly consonant with our fallen human nature.
The book, which combines nautical adventure with travelogue with documenting new cultures, wrapped within the human drama of politics, is best read along with Bartolome de las Casas' A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
"He persisted in his suit for almost seven years, repeatedly holding out prospects of wealth and riches for the crown of Castile." (p. 34)
What is helpful to observe is, as the journeys progress, how the poor choices of "colonists" turned what could have been an exchange of cultures, which continues to be done this day in neighboring countries, turned into unabashed exploitation, and where Columbus (and the Spanish monarchy's) desires tended towards evangelism and trading, those who they brought wanted a fresh start, with their own slaves and new rules. It's a story as old as time, and perfectly consonant with our fallen human nature.
The book, which combines nautical adventure with travelogue with documenting new cultures, wrapped within the human drama of politics, is best read along with Bartolome de las Casas' A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
"He persisted in his suit for almost seven years, repeatedly holding out prospects of wealth and riches for the crown of Castile." (p. 34)
May 15, 2024
I do not know if Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night was inspired by his writing, the difference is that this is not a romantic comedy/play but his life as an explorer, as it is really an adventure. Thankfully the king (Ferdinand II) sided with him, but only thanks to his art of persuasion. The best part about the voyage is the preparation of the ships, in my opinion, as that's what helped him succeed. I also liked the superstitious stuff about why other mariners had not come back, which had been initially "engraved" in the Greek mythology books (the Gibraltar strait mythology). There are several details about the theories (based on hearsay) that he talks about on the why the locals were superstitious and didn't know why all the sailors had never come back after crossing, but for the most part it was about shipwrecks, based on mythology, and yes that the world was flat, but Christopher didn't allow himself being intimidated by such tales as well as by the laws, he went to a country whereby those laws impeding the crossing were absent, thanks to the King... He did name the ships with religious names as part of his persuasive tactics too... But yes, the earth is not flat, the American Continent really exists, it turns out.
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