Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 2 (of 8): Spanish Explorations and Settlements in America from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 2 (of 8): Spanish Explorations and Settlements in America from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
There are copies in the Carter-Brown, Bodleian (Douce), and University
of Göttingen libraries; one is also shown in the _Murphy Catalogue_,
no. 630.
John Harris, Sen., made a fac-simile edition of five copies, one of
which is in the British Museum.
=VII.= _Epistola Cristophori Colom_, etc. Small quarto, four leaves,
gothic, 38 lines. Addressed to Sanxis. Th. Martens is thought to be
the printer.
This edition has only recently been made known. Cf. Brunet,
_Supplément_, col. 276. The only copy known is in the Bibliothèque
Royale at Brussels.
The text of all these editions scarcely varies, except in the use of
contracted letters. Lenox’s collation was reprinted, without the cuts,
in the _Historical Magazine_, February, 1861. Other bibliographical
accounts will be found in Graesse, _Trésor_; _Bibliotheca
Grenvilliana_, i. 158; Sabin, _Dictionary_, iv. 274; and by J. H.
Hessels in the _Bibliophile Belge_, vol. vi. The cuts are also in part
reproduced in some editions of Irving’s _Life of Columbus_, and in the
_Vita_, by Bossi.[181]
In 1494 this Cosco-Sanchez text was appended to a drama on the
capture of Granada, which was printed at Basle, beginning _In laudem
Serenissimi Ferdinandi_, and ascribed to Carolus Veradus. The “De
insulis nuper inventis” is found at the thirtieth leaf (_Bibl.
Amer. Vet._, no. 15; Lenox’s _Scyllacius_, p. xlviii; Major, no.
7; _Carter-Brown Catalogue_, no. 13). There are copies in the
Carter-Brown, Harvard College, and Lenox libraries.[182]
By October, in the year of the first appearance (1493) of the
Cosco-Sanchez text, it had been turned into _ottava rima_ by Guiliano
Dati, a popular poet, to be sung about the streets, as is supposed; and
two editions of this verse are now known. The earliest is in quarto,
black letter, two columns, and was printed in Florence, and called
_Questa e la Hystoria ... extracte duna Epistola Christofano Colombo_.
It was in four leaves, of coarse type and paper; but the second and
third leaves are lacking in the unique copy, now in the British Museum,
which was procured in 1858 from the Costabile sale in Paris.[183]
[Illustration: COLUMBUS’ LETTER NO. VI.]
The other edition, dated one day later (Oct. 26, 1493), printed also at
Florence, and called _La Lettera dell’isole_, etc., is in Roman type,
quarto, four leaves, two columns, with a woodcut title representing
Ferdinand on the European, and Columbus on the New World shore of the
ocean.[184] The copy in the British Museum was bought for 1,700 francs
at the Libri sale in Paris; and the only other copy known is in the
Trivulgio Library at Milan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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