The Letter of Columbus On His Discovery of the New World

This book showcases a facsimile of the famous Stephen Plannck 1493 Latin edition of the Columbus Letter (De Insulis inuentis. Epistola Cristoferi Colom.). Added to the book was an introduction describing the voyage and the events surrounding it, an English translation by Columbus historian Samuel Eliot Morison, and a bibliographic afterword providing information on the near 500 year publishing history of the Letter. Five woodcuts from the Basel Latin edition of 1493 illustrate the text. Also included is a title-page illustration of a sketch-map (attributed to Columbus) of the West Indies, considered the first cartographic view of the New World.