Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-186) and index.

Introduction : Columbus - the man, the voyages, the legacy -- The documents -- Christopher Columbus -- 1. Agreement mentioning Domenico Colombo and his son Christopher Columbus -- 2. Notarial document mentioning Christopher Columbus's trip to Madeira to purchase sugar -- 3. On Columbus's appearance, education, and character / Bartolome de Las Casas -- 4. On Columbus's appearance and origins / Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo -- 5. Undated letter to Fernando and Isabel / Christopher Columbus -- 6. Letter to Nicolo Oderigo with "[Chro] ferens" signature / Christopher Columbus -- 7. On Columbus as an instrument of God's will / Bartolome de Las Casas -- 8. On Columbus as "first discoverer" / Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo -- 9. On Columbus the evangelist / Agostino Giustiniani -- The four voyages -- First voyage, 1492-1493 -- 10. Santa Fe / Santa Fe capitulations -- 11. Granada / Granada capitulations -- 12. Selected entries from the log / Christopher Columbus -- Second voyage, 1493-1496 -- 13. Warrant to Christopher Columbus and Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca commissioning them to outfit the second voyage -- 14. From News of the islands of the Hesperian Ocean discovered by Sir Christopher Columbus of Genoa / Michele da Cuneo -- 15. Letter from Cadiz / Giambattista Strozzi -- 16. Letter from Seville / Giovanni de 'Bardi -- Third voyage, 1498-1500 -- 17. Instructions to Columbus for colonization of the Indies -- 18. On Columbus's third voyage / Bartolome de Las Cases -- 19. Testimony concerning Columbus's landing on the South American mainland, Santo Domingo / Andres del Corral -- 20. Letter to Juana de la Torre, making the case for the restitution of his privileges / Christopher Columbus -- Fourth voyage, 1502-1504 -- 21. Writ ordering restitution of property to the admiral and his brothers -- 22. On Columbus's fourth voyage / Bartolome de Las Casas -- The Spanish crown, Portugal, and the papacy -- 23. Papal bull "Inter cetera II" / Alexander VI -- 24. Papal bull "Piis fidelium" / Alexander VI -- 25. Papal bull "Dudum siquidem" / Alexander VI -- 26. Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal -- 27. Papal bull "Eximie devotionis" / Alexander VI -- European constructions of the new world -- 28. Sienese diaries from 1450 to 1496 / Allegretto Allegretti -- 29. Letter from Ferrara, June 11, 1494 / Morelleto Ponzone -- 30. From his report to the city council of Seville on Columbus's second voyage / Diego Alvarez Chanca -- 31. On Taino religious practices / Ramon Pane -- 32. On Tainos, Caribs, the flora and fauna of the Indies, and the golden age of life according to nature / Peter Martyr of Anghiera -- 33. On Caribs and Tainos / Alessandro Geraldini -- App. A Christopher Columbus chronology (1451-1506).