Select Letters of Christopher Columbus

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. This scholarly edition brings together Christopher Columbus's select letters and related original documents, translated and edited by R. H. Major for the Hakluyt Society, with maps, portraits, and learned commentary that illuminate the voyages, navigation, and historical significance of the New World. It is also shaped by a spirited editorial defense, as Major answers criticism from J. A. Froude over errors, attribution, and unfair attacks on both the editor and the Society, insisting on accuracy, fairness, and Columbus's rightful place in history. From there, the volume broadens into a wide historical survey, weighing ancient hints of western lands, speculative theories of the Americas' origins, and the Chinese Fou-sang claim before turning to Scandinavian discoveries and the Norse voyages to Greenland and Vinland. These accounts trace Icelandic settlement, Eric the Red, Bjarni, Leif Ericson, Thorwald, Karlsefne, and Freydisa, blending adventure, first contact, colonization attempts, and later traditions that sought to prove the reality of the northern discoveries. Against this background, Columbus's own letters and memorials stand as vivid records of exploration, abundance, suffering, and imperial ambition, especially in the Caribbean and Hispaniola during the second voyage.