Columbus's letter on the first voyage
A letter written by Christopher Columbus on February 15, 1493, is the first known document announcing the results of his first voyage that set out in 1492 and reached the Americas. The letter was ostensibly written by Columbus himself, aboard the caravel Niña, on the return leg of his voyage. A postscript was added upon his arrival in Lisbon on March 4, 1493, and it was probably from there that Columbus dispatched two copies of his letter to the Spanish court.
Illustrative woodcut from the Latin edition of Columbus's letter printed in Basel in 1494.
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Columbus takes possession of the islands of the Indies, "with flags flying and no one objecting"
The six islands of the Indies, woodcut from the 1494 Basel edition of Columbus's letter
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and European colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Posthumous portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519
Christopher Columbus House in Genoa, Italy, an 18th-century reconstruction of the house in which Columbus grew up. The original was likely destroyed during the 1684 bombardment of Genoa.
Colombo giovinetto, sculpture of young Columbus by Giulio Monteverde, Genoa
Portrait of Christopher Columbus preserved in the Library of Congress of the United States of America – 19th century copy from an engraving by Aliprando Caprioli
