With his letter of 1493 to the court of Spain, Christopher Columbus heralded his first voyage to the present-day Americas, creating visions that seduced the European imagination and birthing a fascination with those "new" lands and their inhabitants. Columbus's epistolary announcement travelled from country to country in a late-medieval media event, but the letter has long been the object of speculation concerning its authorship and intention. British historian Cecil Jane questions whether Columbus could read and write prior to the first voyage while Demetrio Ramos argues that King Ferdinand...

With his letter of 1493 to the court of Spain, Christopher Columbus heralded his first voyage to the present-day Americas, creating visions that seduced the European imagination and birthing a fascination with those "new" lands and their inhabitants. Columbus's epistolary announcement travelled from country to country in a late-medieval media event, but the letter has long been the object of speculation concerning its authorship and intention. British historian Cecil Jane questions whether Columbus could read and write prior to the first voyage while Demetrio Ramos argues that King Ferdinand...