The Book of Privileges Issued to Christopher Columbus by King Fernando and Queen Isabel: 1492-1502.

Helen Nader and Luciano Formisano. (Repertorium Columbianum, 2.) Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. 9 illus. + xxix + 441 pp. $50. ISBN: n.a.

Almost a decade before the ill-fated Quincentenary celebrations of the Encounter between the Old and New Worlds in 1492, the late Fredi Chiappelli conceived the idea of editing and translating into English most of the Columbian material. Using the most recent and innovative philological and historical trends, the Repertorium Columbianum, as the new project was to be named, was to replace the fabled but confusing and now dated Raccolta, the edition of Columbian material published in and around 1892. Presently in the very capable and dedicated hands of Geoffrey Symcox, its general editor, and under the auspices of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, this ambitious and very worthwhile project has suffered from the severe blows inflicted on research funding by a short-sighted Congress. Nonetheless, against such odds and running against the existing climate, Symcox and the Center have continued to bring out these volumes.

Why this project should be supported and encouraged enthusiastically is clear in this volume. Put together and organized by Christopher Columbus between 1492 and 1502, this is a collection of the privileges granted to the Admiral of the Ocean Sea by the Catholic Monarchs, plus other related texts. Columbus collected these privileges and had them copied in an order that disrupted the chronological sequence of the grants, but which enhanced his claims to the title of admiral and to a share of the profits of the New World. Drawn by notaries in Seville and in La Espanola (1492, 1502), the Book of Privileges was copied in later years, becoming the main exhibit in the long and protracted litigations which Columbus and his descendants carried out against the Spanish crown. They sought restitution of those privileges initially granted by Fernando and Isabel and almost totally withdrawn after Columbus's dismal failure in administering the new colony.

As Nader correctly points out, in the Book of Privileges the "Spanish monarchs laid the legal foundations" to justify the "exploration, conquest and colonization of the Americas" (3). These charters therefore served as the normative principles, with the usual accretions and modifications, for the governing of the Americas to this day. After Nader's superb introduction, which places the privileges within a historical context, she provides a sensible, most readable English translation. Arranged in chronological order, these documents are a most valuable scholarly tool for students and scholars without a profound knowledge of Spanish. Her historical introduction and commentaries on each particular document also dispel many long-held myths about Columbus's origins, goals, and personality. One can no longer emphasize the millenarian aspects of Columbus without taking into account the greed and material concerns that permeate these documents. Her introduction and translation constitute a remarkable and cogent piece of scholarship.

The second part includes Formisano's thoughtful introduction to the philological questions posed by the different extant codices and a critical edition of the Book as originally organized by Columbus himself. Nader's introduction and translation as well as Formisano's comparison of the diverse codices, impeccable editorial decisions, and attention to details have set a very high standard for all subsequent editions and translations of the Book of Privileges. In addition, bibliographical notations, a glossary of terms, and other supporting apparatus make this volume a reaffirmation of and a tribute to Chiappelli's original vision.

TEOFILO F. RUIZ University of California, Los Angeles