A day-by day account kept by Christopher Columbus during his first expedition to the Americas recounts his hopes, fears, and experiences.
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A sixteenth-century Spanish historian described Columbus' discovery of the New World as the greatest event since the creation of the world, save the incarnation and death of Him who created it. While the momentous significance of Columbus' achievements has never been denied, the stature of the discoverer himself and the circumstances which surrounded his enterprise have been the subject of controversial appraisal and interpretations. No book about Columbus can replace his own Journal in conveying what the admiral himself thought and felt during his historic voyage.
Columbus' Journal, which he presented to Ferdinand and Isabel on his return to Spain in 1493, is the ship's log-book containing the official record of his first voyage. Within the outward style of a formal report is the day-by-day account of the most audacious maritime adventure in history, in which the hopes and fears of Columbus and his men on the westward journey and their exultation upon the discovery of land are compellingly conveyed in a charming and direct narrative.
Every page reveals a combination of objective observation and credulity, of commercial interests and religious inspiration, of spontaneity and sophisticated calculation. During the outward journey, Columbus deliberately understated the distance traveled in order to allay his men's fear of being unable to return to Spain, while his own courage was sustained by his belief that his undertaking represented the Divine Will. His rapture at the beauty of the newly found lands and his enthusiasm for the character of the inhabitants did not distract him from his intensive search for gold and spices, or from his efforts to teach the Indians to recite Christian prayers.
This unique document is illustrated with eighty prints and maps representing Europe's first impressions of the New World and its inhabitants. It is based on the translation by Cecil Jane, revised and annotated by L. A. Vigneras, an outstanding scholar of Romance literature and a specialist in early Spanish and Portuguese voyages. The Journal itself is supplemented by the letter of Columbus describing the results of his first voyage, and also contains a special cartographic section by R. A. Skelton, in which Columbus' geographical conceptions and interpretation of his discovery in subsequent maps are analyzed.
—from the dust jacket
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