From the moment King Fernando and Queen Isabel sponsored Christopher Columbus's voyage, they began issuing contracts, decrees, and privileges implementing the project. Previous editions of these collected documents, known as the
Book of Privileges, have been published. Yet, because their ordering of the materials has followed that in which Columbus left them, use of these books has proven problematic. The
Repertorium Columbianum edition is the first to present these documents in chronological order--providing a continuous historical narrative of the monarchs' and Columbus's enterprise. (The documents also appear, separately, in Columbus's arrangement.) Superbly translated, with historical and philological commentary, this edition of the
Book of Privileges is certain to become the standard.
