Books in Brief: Magellan’s Voyage

Magellan’s Voyage, by Antonio Pigafetta, translated by R. A. Skelton (Yale, a limited edition, two volumes, $100). The journal kept by the Venetian aristocrat and adventurer Antonio Pigafetta during the epoch-making voyage of Ferdinand Magellan stands as one of the central literary monuments of the Age of Discovery. The work has come down to us from a French apograph of 1525 and has been translated into several languages, including English. The sumptuously produced Yale edition, however, includes what must be considered the first truly definitive English translation by the former curator of the British Museum Map Room, R. A. Skelton. To this must be added the magnificent color reproductions of several of the most vivid and colorful manuscripts in Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Later this year a more reasonably priced black-and-white facsimile will be published, which will enable the general reader to obtain this work. This book is something much more than a mere coffee-table ornament. There is no adventure story more exciting than this account of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world, and for this reason alone NR’s more affluent readers may want to own this book.

PW

About the Author

P. P. Witonski

Featured Tags

Magellan’s Voyage, by Antonio Pigafetta, translated by R. A. Skelton (Yale, a limited edition, two volumes, $100). The journal kept by the Venetian aristocrat and adventurer Antonio Pigafetta during the epoch-making voyage of Ferdinand Magellan stands as one of the central literary monuments of the Age of Discovery. The work has come down to us from a French apograph of 1525 and has been translated into several languages, including English. The sumptuously produced Yale edition, however, includes what must be considered the first truly definitive English translation by the former curator of the British Museum Map Room, R. A. Skelton. To this must be added the magnificent color reproductions of several of the most vivid and colorful manuscripts in Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Later this year a more reasonably priced black-and-white facsimile will be published, which will enable the general reader to obtain this work. This book is something much more than a mere coffee-table ornament. There is no adventure story more exciting than this account of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world, and for this reason alone NR’s more affluent readers may want to own this book.