[Rarebooks] FS: Washington Irving MANUSCRIPT Fragment on Christopher Columbus's Appearance before the Council

[Charles Agvent]

 From our catalog posted this week:
http://www.charlesagvent.com/shop/agvent/catalogues.html?id=jwebzuyb&mv_pc=195

IRVING, Washington. AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT (AM) FRAGMENT from THE LIFE AND 
VOYAGES OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. n.p., n.d. An excellent single page (5" 
x 7-1/2"), 23 lines with corrections, apparently removed from the 1895 
Manuscript Edition of his collected works, here with the limitation page 
only from that set mentioning the page of manuscript. It is numbered 
"69" here but is actually page 45 of the finished book, the text from 
Chapter 7 titled "Columbus before the council at Salamanca," which 
describes Columbus's first appearance before the assembly of university 
professors and church dignitaries that were brought together to pass 
judgment on Columbus's proposition to sail westward to India. The 
council brought up many objections, primarily based on Scripture and 
incorrect scientific assumptions. For example, one objection was that 
even if Columbus were to reach India, the rotundity of the globe would 
present a kind of mountain that would make it impossible for Columbus to 
sail back up to return to Spain. One of the council members convinced by 
Columbus's reasoning was Diego de Deza. The manuscript here begins with 
a mention of him. In full: [Diego de Deza was] "an able and erudite man, 
above the narrow bigotry of bookish lore, and could appreciate the value 
of wisdom, even when uttered by unlearned lips. He seconded Columbus 
with all his powers and influence, and by their united efforts, they 
brought over several of the most intelligent men of the assembly. Still 
there was a preponderating mass of inert bigotry and learned pride in 
the erudite body, which refused to yield to the demonstrations of an 
obscure foreigner, without fortune or connexions, or any academic 
honours. After this celebrated examination of Columbus, the board held 
occasional conferences, but without coming to any decision; Fernando de 
Talavera, to whom the matter was especially entrusted, had too little 
esteem for it, and was too much occupied by the stir and bustle of 
public concerns, to press it to a conclusion; his departure with the 
court from Cordova, early in the." The remainder of that sentence, not 
present in this manuscript: "spring of 1487, put an end to the 
consultations, and left Columbus in a state of the most tantalizing 
suspense." Laid down on a slightly larger piece of paper. Fine and an 
important manuscript page from one of Irving's most celebrated works. 
(#017265)        $2,500.00

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