COLUMBUS CIRCLED
Christopher Columbus, a solitary figure who challenged the unknown sea: many immigrants who journeyed to N.Y.C. from their homelands metaphorically duplicated his crossing... into the unknown region of this "New World." In America, the human need to explain origins, to create self-identity through national identity, is filled with the image of Columbus about to DISCOVER. In the 18th century, "Columbia," a poetic device, came to symbolize both Columbus and America. Here are sites waiting to be explored:
View the "Columbus Doors" by Randolph Rogers that dominate the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.
An armchair tour of the Library of Congress's famous 1492 exhibit awaits you: "1492: An Ongoing Voyage."
Columbus's
"Letter on His First Voyage" is a 4-pg. black-letter folio dated Feb. 15,
1493 on board Nina. The sole surviving copy of the first edition is now
one of the treasures of the N.Y. Public Library (Fifth Ave. at 42nd St.).
Read
"Columbus's
Letter to Santangel," who was Queen Isabella's treasurer.
"The Before Columbus Foundation" awarded Italian-American author Robert Viscusi the American Book Award on June 16, 1996 for his novel Astoria, set in N.Y.C. and Italy. In 1992, Viscusi wrote a group performance piece: "An Oration upon the Most Recent Death of Christopher Columbus" [Purdue Univ.: VIA Folios]: $3. + shipping.
Further reading on Christopher Columbus:
Biography of Genoa-born
Christopher
Columbus [1451-1506].
Recent literature on Columbus.
Columbus's letter to the King
& Queen of Spain [1494].
Children's selections on Christopher Columbus.
Return
crossing to top of page
THE MONUMENT
Columbus Circle
& W. 59 Street
A monument to Christopher Columbus, navigator and explorer, overlooks the SW corner of Central Park at Columbus Circle.
Born and raised in Genoa, one of the oldest European seafaring communities, as a youth he made several Mediterranean voyages. When he was 24, he got his first chance to make a long voyage. America was discovered by Columbus purely by accident and was named for another Italian -- Amerigo Vespucci -- who had absolutely nothing to do with it. In honor of Columbus's birthday, New York City selected October as "Italian History Month."
NAMESAKES
The Admiral of the Ocean Sea lives on in N.Y. sites.
Columbus
Club,
8 E. 69th St., NYC
Knights of
Columbus, N.Y. Chap., 1011 1st Ave., NYC
Columbus Citizens
Foundation, 8 E. 69th St., NYC
Columbus Cafe,
556 Columbus Ave., NYC
Columbus Candy
Store, 764 Columbus Ave., NYC
1 (800) 277-1483
Columbus Travel,
945 Columbus Ave., NYC
and many others
GOODBYE, COLUMBUS! ** Jump Ship & Return to Index.
Frames master: Ignatius Graffeo