Sailing the Ocean Blue

THE LOG OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, translated by Robert H. Fuson (International Marine Publishing: $14.92, paper; 252 pp.). No retelling of Columbus’ story can match the immediacy and drama of his own record. Though the original log book he kept while on his first voyage to the Americas is lost--perhaps sold by the explorer’s dissolute grandson Luis--copies exist, from which a reasonably accurate reconstruction can be made. This recent edition of the log book, edited by noted Columbus scholar Robert Fuson, is enhanced by explanatory notes and appendixes.

COLUMBUS AND THE AGE OF DISCOVERY by Zvi Dor-Ner with William Scheller (William Morrow: $40; 370 pp.). Companion volume to the seven-part PBS series which concluded last week, this intelligently written and handsomely produced book examines the global context of the Columbus voyages. The authors explore why it was that a European mariner, and not a Chinese or African explorer, inaugurated the first significant contact with the Americas, and go on to retrace Columbus’ voyages. Full use is made of the best recent scholarship, and the authors are particularly sensitive to the nuances of Columbus’ enigmatic personality and to his genius at dead reckoning.

CONQUEST OF EDEN: 1493-1515: Other Voyages of Columbus by Michael Paiewonsky (MAPes MONDe Editore, distributed by Academy Chicago Publishers: $34.95; 176 pp.). Written by an expert in West Indian history and archeology, this study focuses on the second, third and fourth voyages of Columbus. Paiewonsky blends the writings of Columbus and his contemporaries with his own commentary to form an imagistic narrative that is enhanced by unusual illustrations. Records of the Indians’ reactions to the Europeans gives balance to the story. A gem of fine printing with readable type.

MARVELOUS POSSESSIONS: The Wonder of the New World by Stephen Greenblatt (University of Chicago Press: $24.95; 232 pp.). Greenblatt, professor of English literature at UC Berkeley, explores the Europeans’ reactions to the Americas in this scholarly work. Greenblatt’s theme is the way in which one culture apprehends, attempts to represent, and ultimately understands (or misperceives) another period. The sense of wonder gives way to darker perceptions, with fatal results. While Greenblatt’s approach is at times abstruse, his study shows how “words in the New World seem always to be trailing after events that pursue a terrible logic quite other than the fragile meanings that they construct.”