edition' of Columbus's letters has been freely consulted by me, as it
must be by any one interested in the subject. Professor Justin Winsor's
work has provided an invaluable store of ripe scholarship in matters of
cosmography and geographical detail; Sir Clements Markham's book, by far
the most trustworthy of modern English works on the subject, and a
valuable record of the established facts in Columbus's life, has proved a
sound guide in nautical matters; while the monograph of Mr. Elton, which
apparently did not promise much at first, since the author has followed
some untrustworthy leaders as regards his facts, proved to be full of a
fragrant charm produced by the writer's knowledge of and interest in
sub-tropical vegetation; and it is delightfully filled with the names of
gums and spices. To Mr. Vignaud I owe special thanks, not only for the
benefits of his research and of his admirable works on Columbus, but also
for personal help and encouragement. Equally cordial thanks are due to
Mr. John Boyd Thacher, whose work, giving as it does so large a
selection of the Columbus documents both in facsimile, transliteration,
and translation, is of the greatest service to every English writer on
the subject of Columbus. It is the more to be regretted, since the
documentary part of Mr. Thacher's work is so excellent, that in his
critical studies he should have seemed to ignore some of the more
important results of modern research. I am further particularly indebted
to Mr. Thacher and to his publishers, Messrs. Putnam's Sons, for
permission to reproduce certain illustrations in his work, and to avail
myself also of his copies and translations of original Spanish and
Italian documents. I have to thank Commendatore Guido Biagi, the keeper
of the Laurentian Library in Florence, for his very kind help and letters
of introduction to Italian librarians; Mr. Raymond Beazley, of Merton
College, Oxford, for his most helpful correspondence; and Lord Dunraven
for so kindly bringing, in the interests of my readers, his practical
knowledge of navigation and seamanship to bear on the first voyage of