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

by Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóbal Colón, Christopher Columbus

Book Overview

'The Admiral was quite certain that they were near land ... He promised to give a silk doublet to the first sailor who should report it'

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140442170
• ISBN13: 9780140442175
• Release Date: May 1992
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Detailed and Interesting

These accounts of Columbus's voyage are expertly woven together to form a narrative, including letters to dignitaries, Columbus's journal, and letters from his son. These show Columbus as he wrote himself to be and as others saw him. Very well done and interesting read.

Where did it go??

I'm always amazed at what books are no longer in print. The artwork in the volume is intense and sometimes breathtaking. I would love to own the original painting of the meteorite scene. The selections of Christopher Columbus log book do a good job of making the story personal and human. I checked this book out of the library to read to my son and found myself wishing for a copy. Alas, it is not in print.

The First

I profoundly disagree with a previous reviewer. It is a MISTAKE to judge a fifteen-century man by present standards. This is very important. Time and again, we see politically-correct people make moral judgments on people who died centuries ago. Morally, people should be judged primarily by the standards of their own time. To do otherwise, suggests very little personal insight. For most of human history people took exactly what they could. We disapprove of this now although I strongly suspect that the impulse is only sublimated. We now commit robbery via our legal system and other institutions. In centuries to come, the politically correct will look on us as immoral barbarians. So, I don't think it proper to judge Columbus, or any other historical figure, by present day standards. I do think it legitimate to judge him by the standards of his own time. Although a great pilot and pretty good captain, he was a poor administrator and had difficulty hanging onto his coveted title of "Admiral of the Ocean Blue." He, no doubt, like all of us, have plenty of other moral failings, but it is wrong to judge him for what would become the greatest land-grab of history. Did his drive, determination and brilliance cause incalculable human grief? Yes. But by the standards of his own time, he was a hero. Did his actions jump start the fabulous European civilizations of the Americas? Again, yes. But Columbus couldn't have known this, either, so perhaps he shouldn't be given excessive credit. I think his log is an invaluabe asset to those of us who would know what the explorer was thinking even as he was attempting discovery. It's amusing how he attempts to identify this or that tree as valuable. It's clearly a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. He needs to justify his sovereigns' investment in what, by Spanish standards, was an extremely expensive endeavor. He couldn't recognize that he had discovered the most valuable prize in the world. Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

great description of Columbus voyages

This book is a great description of the events related to the exploration of the new world made by Columbus. The first two voyages are the most interesting because of the discovery of the caribbean island and the natives inhabitants living there, the arawaks and the caribs. The latter were very particular on account of its cannibalism. In the third voyage, Columbus finally reach mainland and the fourth voyage was the toughest of all due to huge storms that lasted several days and the attacks of indian while they were repairing. At the end of the book there is an account made by Diego Mendez, a truly survivor and loyal servant of the Admiral who saved the lives of all of them while they were waiting in Jamaica, for a year. I my opinion Columbus was a great navigator and a brave man. It is sad how the life of the Admiral ends and the poor retribution from the kings of Spain.

Columbus Resurrected

J. M. Cohen's translation of various 1st-hand or near first-hand accounts, including that of Columbus' son, Hernando Colon's LIFE OF THE ADMIRAL brings the Columbus story to life.The Introduction, coming from a translator of literature rather than a historian, is rather uninspiring; however, he does provide a rather thorough rebuttal of the argument, made by many supporters of Bartolome de Las Casas and referred to without explanation by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto in COLUMBUS, that Hernando Colon's work is a forgery. Indeed, since it appeared long before Las Casas' HISTORY was published, the issue of forgery may go in the other direction!The book, through early Spanish sources, looks at the rumor that Columbus relied on the map of an ailing Portuguese sailor. It makes plain Columbus' error in thinking he was near Japan (Chipangu) and his belief that he would reach Cathay! We see his rather innocent introduction to the potent tobacco plant and how the natives fed his belief that gold, pearl and spices were nearby.Columbus is shown to be of mixed character: on the one hand, he generally seems to respect the natives he meets and makes an alliance with one chieftain against the 'cannibal' Caribs. On the other, he takes several natives captive (to have them trained in Spanish so that they can serve as translators on future voyages), gives some Carib women to his men (who raped them as in the case of the vile Michele de Cuneo) and discusses conquest and enslavement of idolators [not particularly shocking considering the long history of conflicts and mutual enslavement between the muslim moors of Spain & Northern Africa and the Christians of Spain & Portugal].Columbus' biggest problem appears to be his tendency to leave his men (39 on the first voyage) as colonies while he explores elsewhere. Whenver he returns, the natives have either killed the colonists or were at war with them - often due to the Spaniards' greed and licentiousness. Indeed, at one point, he leaves his brother in charge and the Spaniards, being forbidden to sleep with the native women revolt and found a rebel colony where the women were supposed to be more accomodating! Columbus ultimately is forced into an accomodation with these Spaniards and eventually conquers the natives. We also see the separate voyage of Ovando to Hispaniola and the beginnings of the gold mines. Columbus, not unlike a number of his successors, suffered arrest and trial and, after his last voyage, was deprive of power and authority.Columbus' voyages, following in the footsteps of the Henrican discoveries, would likely have eventually been made by someone but Columbus seems especially driven to exploration. It was an unfortunate fact that he was also a very poor (and often absent) governor. His actions, sometimes courageous and thoughtful, sometimes harsh and reflexive probably represent the more civilized men of his time - when the Middle Ages was just ending, slavery and religious wars continued in

indispensable for the student of the voyage....

....and very easy to read. The English translation is very clear and put together from sources other than Las Casas, whose facts weren't always straight. For some reason the paragraphs are all center-justified and taper out oddly. Various theories about Columbus's landfall are discussed.The one flaw is the introductory pieces that whitewash the man himself. Made out to be a bold, great hero, he was in actuality a gold-obsessed sailor, a poor mariner, a perpetual whiner whose crew could barely stand him, an intolerant European who assumed every land he touched belong to his King back in Spain, and of course the initiator of the slavery system in Espanola. His men built the first fortress in the so-called New World, and they brought several Native captives back to Spain. Fortunately, some of these events are mentioned in the Log itself.