Amerigo

The fool, of wisdom and reasón doth fail

And also, discretion, labouring for nought,

And in this ship shall help to draw the sail

Which day and night infixeth all his thought

To have the whole world within his body brought,

Measuring the coasts of every realm and land,

And climatés, with his compass in his hand.

He coveteth to know, and comprise in his mind,

Every region and every sundry place

Which are not known to any of mankind

And never shall be without a special grace.

Yet such follíes take pleasure and soláce

The length and bredé of the world to measure,

In vain business taking great charge and measure….

For now of late hath largé land and ground

Been found by mariners and crafty governours,

The whiché lands were never known nor found

Before our timé by our predecéssours

And heré after shall by our successours.

Perchance more shall be found, wherein men dwell

Of whom we never before this same heard tell.

—ALEXANDER BARCLAY, The Ship of Fools (1509)

THE AMERICAS: A HEMISPHERIC HISTORY

BARCELONA: A THOUSAND YEARS OF THE CITY'S PAST

BEFORE COLUMBUS: EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION FROM THEMEDITERRANEAN TO THE ATLANTIC, 1229–1492

CIVILIZATIONS: CULTURE, AMBITION, AND THE

TRANSFORMATION OF NATURE

COLUMBUS

COLUMBUS ON HIMSELF

MILLENNIUM: A HISTORY OF THE LAST THOUSAND YEARS

NEAR A THOUSAND TABLES: A HISTORY OF FOOD

PATHFINDERS: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF EXPLORATION

THE TIMES ATLAS OF WORLD EXPLORATION

THE WORLD: A HISTORY