Christopher Columbus and his monument Columbia: being a concordance of choice tributes to the great Genoese, his grand discovery, and his greatness of mind and purpose

About this book

The volume is a nineteenth‑century tribute anthology that gathers together a selection of writings, illustrations, and inscriptions celebrating Christopher Columbus and the monuments erected to his memory. It opens with a lofty, almost poetic appraisal of Columbus and America as “the brightest jewels in her crown,” then explains the compiler’s ambition to assemble a “concordance of some of the most choice and interesting extracts” from the six hundred authors who have praised the explorer. The book is organized into a prefatory essay, a detailed life of Columbus, a series of his selected letters, and extensive sections of tributes to both Columbus and his monument Columbia, each accompanied by a catalogue of statues, maps, and other visual material. The introductory material also acknowledges the assistance of Stuart C. Wade in selecting and indexing the material, and situates the work in its 1892 publication context in Colorado Springs.

The voice is that of a Victorian‑era editor steeped in the rhetoric of progress and reverence, employing formal, elaborate prose and frequent allusions to classical and biblical authority. Its style combines scholarly cataloguing with a celebratory tone, reflecting the period’s fascination with heroic figures and monumental art. Readers who enjoy exhaustive reference works, nineteenth‑century historiography, or the ornamental language of the age will find this compilation rewarding, especially those interested in the cultural legacy of Columbus as expressed through statues, maps, and contemporary literary encomiums.

Opening lines

History places in prominence Columbus and America. They are the brightest jewels in her crown. Columbus is a permanent orb in the progress of civilization. From the highest rung of the ladder of fame, he has stepped to the skies. America "still hangs blossoming in the garden of time, while her penetrating perfume floats all round the world, and intoxicates all other nations with the hope of liberty." If possible, these tributes would add somewhat to the luster of fame which already encircles the Nation and the Man. Many voices here speak for themselves. …

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