By Christopher Columbus

 

Publisher: Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato, 1990.

 

English edition. Volumes I-VII, IX, XI-XII in 14 books (4to — 12” x 8 ½”). (Volumes VIII & X were not printed). All volumes large quarto (with exception of Volume IX - folio atlas — 19 ¾” x 14 ¼”) in attractive pictorial hardcover bindings and 5 similar slipcases (where one volume comprises 2 parts). Printed on custom Rusticus paper produced by Cartiere Millani Fabriano Papermills. Beautifully and extensively illustrated. Condition: As New. This is a substantial body of work.

 

An eminently detailed, scholarly and collectable set of 14 volumes including the folio Atlas —extensively illustrated, some of which have never been issued before. The set was produced by the Italian Government but never commercially sold.

 

Volume I: "Christopher Columbus - The Journal: Account of the First Voyage and Discovery of the Indies" (in 2 parts); viii, 321, 491 pages; Paolo Emilio Taviani and Consuelo Varela, (eds). 5 fold-out maps in full color. Transcribed from Las Casa’s original abstract.

 

Volume II: "The Discovery of the New World in the Writings of Peter Martyr of Anghiera; " 507 pages including 59 page appendix; Lunardi, Ernesto, Elisa Magioncalda, Rosanna Mazzacane (eds). Information pertaining to Columbus, events concerning his Atlantic travels and the Spanish penetration of new lands in the writings of Peter Martyr of Anghiera.

 

Volume III: "Liguria and Genoa at the Time of Columbus" (in 2 parts); 289 pages including 49 page bibliography. Second volume comprises 18 folding color maps illustrating conditions at the time of Columbus.

 

Volume IV: "Historie concerning the Life and Deeds of the Admiral Don Christopher Columbus" (in 2 parts); 330, 428 including 60 page index. Ferdinand Columbus’ biography of his father’s life.

 

Volume V: "Christopher Columbus’s Discoveries in the Testimonials of Diego Alvarez Chanca and Andres Bernaldez;" 380 pages including 30 page bibliography. Edited by Anna Unali. Comprises two fundamental works about the Columbian period: Diego Alvarez Chanca’s letter and the Memoirs of the Catholic Sovereigns’ Reign composed by Andres Bernaldez before 1513.

 

Volume VI: "Christopher Columbus - Accounts and Letters of the Second, Third, and Fourth Voyages" (in 2 parts); 440, 436 pages including 47 page index; Taviani, Varela, Gil and Conti (eds); this 2 part volume is dedicated to Columbus’s writings - accounts and letters - on the second, third and fourth voyages of discovery. Part 1 comprises texts known as early as the fourth century, while section 2 is the Libro Copiador, nine letters by Columbus, first made available to scholars in 1985.

 

Volume VII: "The Ships of Christopher Columbus;" 309 pages including 24 pages of bibliographic reference and index of names. Numerous illustrations; 2 large folding illustrations of the ships "Pinta" and "Santa Maria." The nature and the features of the vessels within which Columbus sailed from Palos with the aim of discovering a new way to the Indies.

 

Volume VIII: was never printed

 

Volume IX: "Columbian Atlas of the Great Discovery;" folio; 202 pages including 11 page index. All leaves are tipped-in, divided into 42 plates, consisting of 85 illustrations (29 bifold), of which 59 are in color.

 

Volume X: was never printed

 

Volume XI: "Columbian Iconography;" 656 pages including 58 page index. An attempt to "arrive at a reconstruction of Columbus’ features" - to obtain the closest observation possible of the real Columbus.

 

Volume XII: "The Genoese Cartographic Tradition and Christopher Columbus;" 216 pages including 58 page bibliographic reference and index; several folding color plates; an examination of Columbus’s cartographic knowledge and the cartographic tradition generally.