Decouverte

1892 — Very Good English, Middle (1100-1500) Original imitation vellum. An OCLC register says "decorated with small shells and seaweed pasted on". Chipped on extremities and spine, slight pouring on paper; several tapes used at the link of the pages to binding. Otherwise a good copy. Small 4to. (27 x 18 cm). In Middle English (15th century). The first leaf attached to front cover. At end, 6 blank leaves. [46] p. with [7] blank pages, many illustrations, 1 letter with its broken seal. Separately, a facsimile of a letter from Isabella (Dona Isabel por Gracia de Dios Reina de Castilla y Leon etc. etc. A Don Cristobal Colon de Genova) to Columbus, dated 'Granada a? trece de Abril de MCCCCXCII,' with a broken seal attached. Script on vellum as well. Two registers in OCLC (1029665801 and 60764823 -This one is New York Edition-). 'Düsseldorf Edition' says "A spurious work purporting to be the logbook of Christopher Columbus, which, according to legend, he threw into the sea during a storm, and which was found on the coast of Pembrokeshire 400 years later. Written in antiquated English, with paper and binding made to imitate in color and appearance a volume damaged by exposure to seawater. "S.A.S.X. MY XPO FERENS" from cover, variously interpreted, eg. Supples servus altissimi Salvatoris Xristi Mariae Josephi Xpoferens. Forgery attributed to Karl Maria Seyppel. Printed by lithographic process on imitation parchment paper. Text and illustrations printed to appear handwritten, with many decorated initials. Accompanied by: reproduction of a letter purported to be by the finder of the logbook dated "September forth 1890"; "Don~a Isabel por gracia de Dios Reina do Castilla y Leon, etc., etc. a? Don Cristo?bal Colon de Ge?nova," supposed letter on imitation parchment, authorizing his voyage, dated "Granada, a? trece de abril de mccccxcij," with an attached seal, laid in.". This is a fine hoax on Colombus' first travel into America. It includes a map containing Cuba, San Salvador, and unknown areas with a hand drawing of Columbus as well as other illustrations and decorative borders, etc. This Edition may be printed in memory of the 400th year of '1492'. "Columbus's log of the first voyage has not survived, although we do have an abstract of it, written in the 1530s by Bartolome de las Casas. However, that actually used the "Barcelona Copy" of Columbus's original log. The chart above shows the sources that exist today in green, and sources that have disappeared in red. The chart also shows where secondary souses got their original information. When he returned to Spain in 1493, Columbus gave his original log to the Sovereigns at the royal court in Barcelona. Queen Isabela ordered the log to be copied, resulting in the so-called Barcelona Copy. The original has not been seen since, however, the Barcelona Copy was returned to Columbus just before his second voyage later that year, and remained in his possession until his death in 1506. It then passed into the hands of son Fernando, who used it when he wrote a biography of Columbus in 1538. The Barcelona Copy too was lost sometime after 1554. Sometime around 1530, the Barcelona Copy was abstracted by Las Casas into the Diario. This abstract as part of his research that led to his massive work, the Historia de las Indias. So The Diario remains our best historical record of the first voyage of Columbus. On the westward passage, Columbus kept two sets of distance figures in the log. According to Las Casas, this was done to allay the fears of the crew that they had sailed too far from Spain. The abstract is mostly written in the third person, but there are a number of large direct quotes from the log written in Columbus's own first-person.". (Source: Christopher-Columbus Europe website).