Four Voyages : Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives..

by Columbus, Christopher (Author); Cohen, J. M. (Translator); Cohen, J. M. (Editor/introduction)

• ISBN13: 9780140442175
• ISBN10: 0140442170
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-05-01
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• More Book Details

Summary

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.

Author Biography

JM Cohen (1903 - 1989) was the translator of many volumes for the Penguin Classics, including versions of Rabelais, Cervantes and Montaigne.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	9	(2)
Introduction	11	(16)
FIRST VOYAGE: 1492--3
General and Natural History of the Indies by Captain Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, Bk. II, Chaps. 2--4	27	(10)
Digest of Columbus's Log-Book on his First Voyage Made by Bartolome de las Casas	37	(40)
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chaps. 27--42	77	(38)
Letter of Columbus to Various Persons Describing the Results of his First Voyage and Written on the Return Journey	115	(12)
SECOND VOYAGE: 1493--6
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chap. 43	127	(2)
The Letter Written by Dr Chanca to the City of Seville	129	(29)
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chaps. 51--64	158	(45)
THIRD VOYAGE: 1498--1500
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chap. 65	203	(3)
Narrative of the Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Indies, in which He Discovered the Mainland, Dispatched to the Sovereigns from the Island of Hispaniola	206	(21)
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chaps. 73--80 and 82--6	227	(38)
Letter Sent by the Admiral of the Indies to the Governess of Don Juan of Castile in the year 1500, in which He Was Brought from the Indies a Prisoner	265	(12)
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chaps. 86 (contd.)--87	277	(6)
FOURTH VOYAGE: 1502--4
Letter Written by Christopher Columbus, Viceroy and Admiral of the Indies, to the Most Christian and Mighty King and Queen of Spain, Our Sovereigns	283	(22)
Account by Diego Mendez of Certain Incidents on Christopher Columbus's Last Voyage	305	(13)
The Life of the Admiral by his Son, Hernando Colon, Chap. 108	318