COLTTMBUS Jewish Literature. BY Prof. K J, H. GOTTHEIL, ColumMa College, New York. From the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, 1894. PRESS OF THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY, BALTIMORE. COLUMBUS IN JEWISH LITERATUKE. By Professor R. J. H. Gottheil, Columbia College, New York. Joseph ben Joshua Hakkohen was of Spanish parentage.* His family had been compelled to leave their home during the forced exodus of 1492. His father settled in Avignon, at which place Joseph was born ; but, later, removed to Genoa. When the Jews were expelled from that city, Joseph went to Voltaggio, where he did most of his literary work. He died in the year 1575. Joseph was a careful historian. He gathered his facts from all possible sources, made notes, kept registers — all of which served him as material when writing his Emek Hab- bdkhdh and Dibhre Hayydmim.^; This last work is a Book of Chronicles — not only of his own people, but also of all the nations with whom they had come in contact. It con- tains an account of Columbus, which has recently been the subject of some discussion. | He curiously c(mfounds Columbus with Americo. The whole description is vague and poor, and Harrisse is right§ in wondering at the meagre- ness of Joseph's information. For the Genoa Psalter of 1516 was published before he wrote, and that contains a long and trustworthy account. *0n Joseph Kohen, see Steinschneider, Bodleian Catal gue, col. 1498 ; Jewish Literature, p. 251 ; Ilebraische Uebersetzungen, vol. II., pp. 775, 948; Neubauer, Mediaeval Jeuoish Chronicles, p. xix; Revue des Etudes Juives, vol. xiv, pp. ^8 sq. f An English translation of this book was published in 183G by C. H. F. Bialloblotzky, " The Chroriicles of Rabbi Joseph . . . the Sphardi. 2 vols. London. Oriental Translation Fund I See A. Kohut, References to Columbus and America's Discovery in Contemporaneous Hebrew Literature. The Menor.ih, l)e<-. l.s!)2, pp. 403 sq. %Centralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen, 1888, p. 136. 130 American Jewish. Historical Society. The explanation is to be found in the peculiar manner in which Joseph wrote his works. Books were scarce in those days. Joseph had difficulty in procuring those he needed. He says expressly in a passage which I shall cite further on, that he did not, at that time, have the good fortune to possess a book giving him detailed information about the discoveries made in America. Afterwards he was able to obtain such a work, and he immediately set about to do it into Hebrew in order that his people might have correct information on the subject. This work was La Historia general de las Indias of Francisco Lopez de Gomara.* This work in two parts [The Book of India and The Booh of Fernando Cortes, or The Book of Mexico) he joined to another work Ilassibh Gebhu- loth 'Ammlm,'\ itself a translation of the Omnium gentium mores leges et ritus of Joan Boemus. Now, the redaction of his Chronicles was finished in 1553. The translation of Boemus' work bears the date 1555. It was only after he had completed these two that he commenced translating his larger work on America, which he com- pleted in the year 1557. We can thus follow closely his gradual acquisition of knowledge on the subject of the dis- coveries in the New World. Had he written his Chronicles after his translation of de Gomara, our judgment upon them would not have been so severe. It is, perhaps, wrong to call these works translations. I have before me the text of de Gomara as published in the 22d volume of the Bibliotheca de Autores Espanoles, Madrid, 1884. The Hebrew is an abridgment and only preserves the general run of the original. But Joseph is very careful in his proper names. At the end of each treatise he even has a list of Spanish words used, with their Hebrew equivalents. *Cf. Bibliographical Notice of Rare and Curious Books relating to America . . . in the Library of Carter Brown. Providence. Vol. I., p. 168 ; Vol. II., p. 14. Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of Amer- ica, Vol. II. f i. e. that which setteth the bounds of the people. Deut. 32, 6. Columbus in Jewish Literature — Gottheil. 131 Poetical quotations he gives in Spanish, but in Hebrew char- acters; and he add.' a rhymned Hebrew translation of his own. The MS. of these two works — for they seem to have been intended to go together — in my library was purchased at the sale of the library of the late R. N. E-abinowitz in Munich.* It was sold to me as being unique. It was some time after- wards that I discovered that I had been the victim of a deception, for another MS. of the same work was sold to the Alliance israelite in Paris at about the same time. To be more accurate, the MS. that I had bought was sold to Paris and an inferior one sent to me.f The discovery came when I read the excellent article of the late Isidore Loeb {Revue des Etudes Juives, Vol. XVL, pp. 28 sq.X) on the very MS. which I supposed I had bought. Mr. Rabinowitz had died in the meantime, so that redress was impossible. There are thus two MSS. of this work known. There were originally more copies. Joseph, it seems, thought well of his own works. He made several copies of the transla- tion, carefully adding the date at which he finished each copy. That now in the library of the AlUanoe was the ninth, and was finished in the year 1568. My own copy is the fifth, and bears the date 12th Tishri, 1564. Our author had also a penchant for poetry. He affixed to this, his fifth copy, quite a number of verses ; also formulae for the heading of letters addressed to various personages of rank. There is the mark of the vise of a censor, with the date 1607. * It is only necessary to look at the Catalogue B'sJilmath S^fdr'im Y'shenlm, hamsJilkh, etc., sent out by Mr. Kabinowitz himself. I refer to the one bearing the date 5th Tammuz, 5647. The MS. is numbered 129 (p. 20), and the note is added : w'lo^ 7iodha' 'odh bd'oldm. But the buyer of MSS. must expect many a surprise ! Steinschneider, Ilebr. Uebersetz., p. 948, speaks of another MS. (Servi, dated 15 Omer, 1567). I can find nothing more about it. t Towards the end, the ink has eaten into the thin paper and partly destroyed it. :j:See also Leonello Modona, Oli ebrei e la scoperte delV America, Casale, 1893, p. 5. I am indebted to one of my students, Mr. George Kohut, for this notice. 132 American Jewish Historical Society. At the end of his abridgment of Boemus, Joseph has added a chapter of his own, entitled "On the other islands of the Mediterranean Sea," whose names the author did not men- tion. The concluding paragraph of this section reads: " These, then, are the nations, whose names are known to us: these are their customs and rites up to this day. But, in our own times Columbus the Genoan discovered large Islands and Kingdoms in the direction of the setting sun, the names of which were unknown up to the present day. Many Spaniards followed him, and they — in their turn — found cities which Columbus had not seen, as well as the whole country of Peru, where there is gold. They fought with these nations and made them tributary. These lands have belonged to the Kings of Spain, even unto this day. From there gold is brought, year by year. The inhabitants of those cities were idolaters, until the coming there of the Spaniards, who brought them from gloom into utter dark- ness. They also found there cities belonging to men who were like unto beasts — eaters of human flesh, even unto this day. The servants of the King of Portugal found also the island which to-day they call San Tome (^Oft^ JND). There they found only the large fishes which come up from the sea, which they call Lagartos (b'IDnxJX?), and serpents and insects and conies.* Thither the king sends every one condemned to death. He also sent some Jews there. * Through the courtesy of Professor H. B. Adams, I am able to make use of the following references collected by Mr. J. H. Hollan- der : " In the year 1493, when King John the Second conferred the seignory of St. Thomas's isle upon Don Alvaro de Caminha, he oVjliged the latter to people it, and, for this purpose, ordered that all the Jews should have their sons and daughters of tender age taken away from them, and that after the baptism of the latter, these should be handed over (as was done) to Don Alvaro, for the purpose of peopling the said isle of St, Thomas. Osorino, De ReMis gestis Emanuelis regis Portugalliae, lib. prim.; Monteiro, Eistoria da Santa Inquis., parte 1", liv. seg., cap. 2. Cf. de Castro, History of the Jews in Spain, London, 1851, p. 202 ; Lindo, History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal, p. 323 ; Jost, Oeschichte der Juden, viii, p. 93." Columbus in Jewish Literature — Gottheil. 133 They found no saviour in the day of the anger of God. They were friendly v/ith the servants of the King of Portugal, and built houses in which to dwell, and tilled their land. The ground gave forth its produce, and they dwelt there in safety. They also planted sugar-canes (L*'mn ••jp), which increased greatly. From there they bring the juice of the cane, which they call sugar (ixpiDj^) to Portugal. But up till now I have not had the good fortune to see a book relating these journeys, or to learn a sufficient number of facts so as to write a book upon the subject. And so I give thanks to God who has assisted me in writing this book thus far. I pray that in His mercy He may find me worthy to write other books to the glory of His great name, and to complete the account of the lands of Peru and Mexico, the other islands of the sea, Kush and Libya (?). To the end that the children of Israel know that the Lord is a God of knowledge, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters : by Him actions are weighed. Finished on the first day of the week, the fourth of Tammuz here in Voltabbio, the city in which I, Joseph Hakkohen, dwell: in the vicinity of Genoa, in the year 5315." The superscription to the abridgment of de Gomara reads: "Saith Joseph, son of Meir, son of Judah, son of Joshua, son of Judah, son of David, son of Moses, of the priests who went from Goete ("'P''^?•1J) in the land of Spain. I have sent to Spain to bring this book New India. It was for- warded to me. It also is divided into three parts, not count- ing the Book on Mexico ("lp''C':i''0). I set my heart upon translating them." Chapter 5 of Part I. of this book on India reads as follows : " We commence by relating how the Islands in India were first found. Columbus the Genoan (*t?'^5frJn n;i'?"[p) was a man mighty in strength, accustomed all his life to sail on the sea in ships. This Christopher Columbus learned how to make sea-charts (nin'pn nh^d). He went to Por- L34 A7nei'iGan Jewish Historical Society. tugal, in order to become acquainted with the cities in Southern Africa which are near the sea, and the way by which the Portuguese (C'^D"'2lt2-iis) reach Calicut (t^lp'-'pxi"^). It happened, at that time, that a ship set out from Spain for the seas of Canaria (nxp.j<:X|^). But the wind blew upon the ship and drove it to a land which neither they nor their fathers had known. Most of the men died on the way. After some time, the ship returned. On it were five men and the captain. He went to the house of Columbus, took sick and died. His name has not become known, even unto this day. Only the remembrance of the road they took has been preserved through Columbus. About this time his heart prompted him to go there. He sent Bar- tholomew (TN^ni^TOnxn) his brother to Henry C^P'-^V^} VII., King of England (n'T'Dx'pJrx), to ask for help and means to go there. He told him (king) of all the precious wealth to be found there. But the King would not hearken to his voice. He also asked the King of Portugal ("pj^JiD-ns) ; but he appeared as one joking. Then he went to Ferdinand (n^i^jnTD), King of Spain, and his accursed wife Isabella (np'-nx^i'^x), while they were fighting against Granada (nnsjxn:) in the year 1486. But at that time, they would not incline their ear. When, however, he spoke to them day after day, they came to believe in the promises he made to bring all manner of precious wealth, silver and gold and spices. They received him well : he found, at this time, favor in the eyes of all who saw him. They gave him (Columbus) a tenth of the taxes gathered from those lands which did not belong to the King of Portugal : for the two kings were at peace one with the other. They made an agreement with him, written and sealed in Granada on the 30th of April ("pnnx) in the year 1492 — i. e. the year of the expulsion. In that frightful year all the hosts of the Lord went forth from the land of Spain at the command of these rulers : in the fifth month. From there they spread to the four corners * Columbus in Jewish Literature — Gottheil. 135 of the earth. They went in ships to Africa (npnss), Asia (ns*''::\s), Greece (jv), and Turkey (no-iJin). There they have dwelt up to this day. From Cartagena (nvJspi.X]^) there went out sixteen large ships filled with human beings, on the sixth day, on the tenth day of the month. In the rest of the cities of the king, and the cities near the sea, what did they do? There came over them many and evil mis- fortunes and various troubles, so that they grew weary on the way. Look O Lord ! Turn and save us for the sake of Thy name!" Chapter 6 of Book I. tells how Columbus first came upon the islands of India. "These two princes gave him three ships. He went to sea with Bartholomew his brother. At that time there were with them one hundred and fifty men. They journeyed from Palos de Moguer (■i\MO n L-'i'px?) on the third day of the month of August (mc'iJS), passing by Gomera ('iT?5fJ) which belongs to the Canary Islands. They continued their journey and found a certain herb upon the sea in large quan- tities. At that time they were in great fear. They went on their way; but had not gone far when one of the men saw [a light], from afar off, and told this to his fellows. Their spirits revived while he spoke to them. On the morrow, i. e. on the eleventh day of the month of October, the look- out cried with a loud voice 'Land! Land!' All ran and looked, and gave thanks to God, lifted up their voices and wept. These men now kissed the hand of Columbus, bowed down to him and said 'Behold ! we are thy servants! ' Then they neared the dry land, and came to the Island Guanahani (''JiSriJ^^S'i:) which belongs to the Lucayos (t^'t''^*|^17) Islands, between Florida (nnn.l'?^) and the Island of Cuba (nn-lp). This is the first island which was taken in the name of the Kings of Spain. From there they went to Barucoa (nstp-nx?) which is in the Island of Cuba, and they took some of the men of that place. Then they returned to the Island of Haiti ('P.'^ii), threw the anchors into the sea, and 136 American Jewish Historical Society. came to anchor there. Columbus called the name of that place Puerto Real (^^'1. 1t3T^!i2). One of his ships was destroyed there. The men then went on shore. Columbus, also, went with them at that time. The Indians saw the Spaniards and their arms. Taking them to be cannibals (c-nnxp), eaters of human flesh, they fled to the mountains. The Spaniards pursued after them and came upon a naked woman, to whom they gave bread and wine, a linen garment and clothes wherewith to clothe her nakedness. Then they let her go . She ran and told the Indians what they had done to her, whereupon many of them came to the sea at that time. But they were unable to understand each other's speech; so that they were compelled to speak with them as one speaks to a dumb man. The Indians brought bread and fruit and birds and gold and many other things, and exchanged these for bells and glass necklaces and needles, and other things which were in the coffers of the Spaniards. At which Columbus was exceeding glad. There came also thither Guacanagari (n^