The Authentic Letters of Columbus Volume 1, No. 2

by Christopher Columbus

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 edition. ...of concessions and privileges, and I have asked him to take good care of them. I wish you would see them. The King and Queen, my sovereigns, wish to honor me now more than ever. The Holy Trinity may keep your noble persons in its keeping and increase the importance of your magnificent office." He signs himself ' The Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and Viceroy and Governor of the Islands and Mainland of Asia and the Indies belonging to the King and Queen, my sovereigns, The Captain General of the Sea, and a member of their Council." Upon his return to Spain in 1504, having heard nothing from the Bank or from Oderigo about these documents, he writes an indignant letter which he signs ' The Great Admiral of the Ocean, Viceroy and Governor General of the Indies, etc." He 'At about the same time of my departure from here, I sent to you by Francisco de Ribarol a book containing copies of several letters, and another in which all the grants and privileges given me were also copied, the whole inclosed in a red morocco case, with a silver lock. I also sent with the same man two letters to the St. George gentlemen, in which I assigned to them one-tenth of my revenues, in consideration of and compensation for the reduction made on the duties on wheat and other supplies. To nothing of this have I had any reply. Micer Francisco says that everything arrived safely. If this is the case, the failure of the St. George gentlemen to answer my letters is an act of discourtesy, for which the Treasury is by no means better off. This is the reason why it is generally said that to serve common people is to serve no one. "Another book of my privileges, equal to the one above mentioned, was left by me at Cadiz with Francisco Catanio, (who is the...

64 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2012

About the author

Christopher 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.

Reviews

[Inés ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good insight into who he was and other facets of his personality besides being a violent awful person.