99 



The Authentic Letters of Columbus. 



There are known to be in existence twenty-nine autographs of 

 Christopher Columbus, not including voluminous marginal notes in 

 his handwriting upon the pages of several books that he owned or 

 read. 



Of these autographs nineteen are letters entirely in his own hand 

 and over his mysterious signature. Ten of them are addressed to his 

 son Diego; four to Father Caspar Corricio, a Carthusian monk who 

 befriended him in his last days; two to Nicolo Oderigo, the Genoese 

 Ambassador to Spain ; two to Ferdinand and Isabella, and one to the 

 Governors of the Bank of St. George, Genoa. 



There are also six memoranda written wholly in his hand but un- 

 signed. Two are for the information and guidance of his son Diego ; 

 two relate to his claims against the crown of Spain ; one refers to his 

 arrest and imprisonment, and the other is a statement of the disposi- 

 tion of the gold he brought from the Indies when he returned from 

 his first voyage. 



There are also in existence three drafts or orders for money in 

 his handwriting, and bearing his signature ; two of them addressed to 

 Francisco de Morillo, in payment for naval supplies, and the other to 

 Alonzo de Morales, Treasurer, for money advanced to pay his travel- 

 ing expenses from Granada to Seville. 



There is also a copy of a letter he received from Dr. Toscanelli, 

 a learned Florentine astronomer, some years before he started on 

 his voyage, which confirms his theory of a western passage from 

 Spain to the Indies. That is written upon the fly leaf of a book 

 in his well-known hand, and is probably the oldest autograph in ex- 

 istence. 



And, finally, there exists in Seville a volume of manuscript writ- 

 ten partly by Christopher Columbus, partly by his brother Barthole- 

 mew, and partly by two amanuenses. 



All of these autographs, except the Toscanelli letter, were written 

 during the last years of his life, and most of them while Columbus 

 was residing in the old monastery of Las Cuevas, on the outskirts of 

 Seville, under the protection of the Carthusian friars. All of the 



