The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 33, 1519-1522

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 33, 1519-1522 - Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

In this and the succeeding volume, we present various documents (notably the Relation of Antonio Pigafetta) which could not be obtained in season for publication in regular chronological order, and which it has seemed advisable to insert as addenda at this point. With the present volume is begun the publication of Antonio Pigafettas relation of the first circumnavigation of the worldthe greatest single achievement in all the history of sea exploration and discovery. Written by a participant of the expedition, Pigafettas relation has a greater value than any other narrative of the voyage. Its great value and the fact that it has never been adequately presented to the English-speaking public have induced the editors to insert this relation in the present series both in the original Italian (rigidly adhering to and preserving all the peculiarities of the original manuscript) and in English translation. This relation is especially valuable for its descriptions of the various peoples, countries, and products, of Oriental seas, and for its vocabularies, as well as for its account of the first circumnavigation. From its very nature, the relation has called for an unusual amount of [12]annotation, which has been drawn freely from various sources: chiefly Mostos annotations in his publication of Pigafettas relation in Part V, volume iii, of the Raccolta di documenti e studi, published by the Royal Columbian Commission of the fourth centenary of the discovery of America under the auspices of the Minister of Public Instruction (Roma, 1894); Navarretes Col. de viages, iv (Madrid, 1837); various publications of the Hakluyt Society; and F. H. H. Guillemards Life of Ferdinand Magellan (New York, 1891). The publication of the original Italian and the English, page for page, renders it necessary to place the annotations at the end of the volume instead of in footnote as hitherto. The various charts of the Italian manuscript are all presented in facsimile in the course of the work. In order that the various peculiarities of the manuscript might be preserved, it has been necessary to specially design and cast certain characters that appear in Pigafettas narrative. None of these characters have been reproduced by Mosto, who also writes out all abbreviations. Throughout we have aimed to present the document as it exists in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (even to the spacing of words) with the exception that paragraphs in the manuscript begin with a hanging indention and usually end with a series of dots and dashes. A brief synopsis of the relation follows. After a brief dedication to the grand master of the Hospitaler knights of Rhodes or Malta, as they were called later, and of which order he is a member, Pigafetta relates that, being at Barcelona in 1519 with the papal legate, he first hears of the expedition about to set out under Magalhes. Being [13]desirous of seeing the world, he gains permission to accompany the expedition, and soon joins the fleet at Seville, whence it is to depart. Magalhes, as a wise commander, issues his instructions to the various commanders of the vessels ere port is left, so that they may keep together in the unknown seas before them, and that they may act in harmony. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 42884
Author: Pigafetta, Antonio
Release Date: Jun 5, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Blair, Emma Helen, 1851-1911

Translator: Robertson, James Alexander, 1873-1939