Columbus_ The Four Voyages - Laurence Bergreen [216]
At the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., I owe a debt to Thomas Mann, reference librarian, as well as to Everette Larson in the Hispanic Division and to John Hébert, chief of the Geography and Map Division, for their insights into the complex historical record of Columbus’s voyages. In May 2009, I attended the Library’s symposium, “Exploring Waldseemüller’s World,” where presenters Owen Gingerich and Nicolás Wey Gómez thoughtfully analyzed this seminal cartographic representation of the New World. Anyone wishing to step back in time to 1507 need only stand in front of this giant map on display at the Library.
It was a delight to conduct research again in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. These days elements of its collection, including digital facsimiles and images relating to Columbus, are available online at http://pares.mcu.es. I wish to thank Pilar Lazáro and the staff for their cooperation with my inquiries. I also wish to extend appreciation to the Biblioteca Columbina, located in the Cathedral of Seville (www.institucioncolumbina.org). Here thousands of volumes from the libraries of Christopher Columbus and his son Ferdinand can still be inspected. To step into this library is akin to peering into the mind of Columbus.
In Palos de la Frontera, Spain, I visited La Rábida Monastery, where Columbus planned his first voyage. Much of its environment has been preserved or restored to its appearance during the explorer’s day. In Madrid, the collection of the Museo Naval proved as helpful as it had been during my previous visits, especially its celebrated oxhide chart by Juan de la Cosa.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I conducted research at the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, where a variant scholarly tradition emphasizes Columbus’s Portuguese connections. (Baretto Mascarenhas’s 1977 work, “Colombo” Português, is one example.) I am extremely grateful to Jacqueline Philomeno for the warmth of her friendship and the breadth of her understanding.
My research in the Dominican Republic, once the seat of Columbus’s empire, took me to La Isabela (Puerto Plata), the site of Columbus’s fort and home. In Santo Domingo, the collections of the Museo de las Casas Reales, the Museo Alcáza de Colón, and the Museo del Hombre Dominicano, with its comprehensive collection of Taíno artifacts, illuminated aspects of Columbus’s voyages. Mayra Castillo, Tiffany Singh, and Alejandro Tolentino made me feel welcome and provided guidance with my research, as did the capable personnel of my hotel, the Hostal Nicolas de Ovando, the former residence of Columbus’s successor in Santo Domingo. For additional expertise relating to the Dominican Republic, I am indebted to Marcela Manubens, senior vice president of Phillips–Van Heusen Corporation for Global Social Responsibility, and her colleague Juan Carlos Contreras, PVH’s regional manager. I wish to extend particular appreciation to Frank Moya Pons, the Dominican historian, for making available several works about Columbus.
NOTES ON SOURCES
The ever-expanding literature on Columbus encompasses diverse languages and historical traditions. To give some idea of its size, Simonetta Conti’s Bibliografia colombiana, 1793–1990, which includes books and articles in a variety of languages, runs to well over seven hundred pages, yet even this massive compendium ends before the outpouring of additional documents and translations inspired by the Columbus Quincentenary in 1992. As my own narrative makes plain, Columbus’s legacy and reputation were highly controversial right from the start. Throughout his career, glory and dishonor ran neck and neck, and the race continues to this day.
Fortunately, Columbus, his son, various Spanish ministers, sailors, and historians all left accounts of his actions—often voluminous and impassioned, pleading for the Admiral of the Ocean Sea or against him, and in