Show 0 of bl 1 t bijl lali I 1 world and insofar as the daring voyage of this genoese sailor led even dually to the foundation of the united states it Is appropriate at this time to inquire how in adal alon to the annual celebration of land ing day we honor his memory what memorials to columbus for instance are there in the capital of the nation which bears his name in its cation of columbus the visitor to washington who goes by train sees one of the greatest monuments ever erected to the memory of columbus the moment he steps out of the union station there on the plaza in front of the station Is the nations formal tribute to the italian navigator the magnificent columbus fountain by lorado taft the outstanding tea ture of the fountain Is a stone shaft about 45 feet high surmounted by a globe which forms the background for the statue of columbus who stands upon the prow of a vessel with arms folded in an attitude of meditation the figurehead of the ship Is a beau alful female figure typifying the spirit of discovery on each side of the shaft are mas she figures representing the isea and old worlds the ew world Is an american indian reaching over his shoulder for an arrow from his quiver the old world Is typified by a paerl archal of heroic mold and thoughtful the globe at the top I 1 of the shaft suggests the influence of columbus on the growth of mans knowledge of the shape of the earth it Is supported by four american eagles standing at the corners of the top of the shaft with wings partly ex tended on the rear of the shaft Is a medallion representing ferdinand and isabella of spain the patrons of columbus voyage of discovery and the group of figures Is completed by two enormous lions which crouch on pedestals at the ends of the balustrade the plan for erecting this memorial was started by a fraternal order the knights of columbus who solicited contributions from the various coun alla of the order throughout the coun try to the large amount of money which this organization raised was added an appropriation of by congress and the work of erecting the memorial was given to a commission composed of the chairman of the sen ate and house committees on the 11 ferary the secretary of state the sec detary of war and the supreme knight of the order of the knights of colum bus the commission selected the plaza in front of the union station aa the site for the memorial and adopted the design submitted by daniel II 11 burnham architect of the union sta alon and member of the national commission of fine arts and lorado taft sculptor both of chicago the capitol contains two striking reminders of columbus in the rotunda Is the magnificent painting by john vanderlyn an american artist and pupil of gilbert stuart which depicts the landing of columbus this picture Is so well known that it needs no further description here in the lobby of the senate gallery Is the painting of another scene in the life of columbus by adother american art let it Is the kecell of columbus by A G II eaton a descendant of the famous pointer rembrandt beale this painting completed in 1883 from studies made in spain wai sold to the united states government and copied by engraving on the 50 cent stamp of the columbian series issued to commemorate the world a colum blan exposition at chicago in 1893 this printing represents the ahli scene on the bridge of alnes two leagues from granada when columbus having been refused the flan caal aid of king ferdinand for his ex ji k was riding sadly away from the capital only to be overtaken by a messenger from queen isabella who had decided to give her aid even though her husband would not in the pic ture columbus sitting on a little white mule has just been given the queens letter by the richly dressed messenger who has dismounted from his fine steed and Is bowing impressively us he hands the all important document to the future discoverer of the new world it was the turning point in the career of christopher columbus and as such the preservation of this his tork scene in a painting deserves a place among the other pictured gre it in american history which adorn the walls of the capitol in addition to these memorials to columbus in washington there Is in the library of congress a collection of original documents and rare cooka relating to the discovery of the bew world which are of almost ible value and which form the most direct linly of the united states with the valiant sailor who made it possible for this nation to be they constitute a unique literary memorial to columbus and the headliner of them all is the columbus codex which has been characterized as a document of alie highest historical importance and which will be better appreciated as time goes on to understand the historical importance of the codex Is necessary to review brealy certain facts about the stormy life of columbus especially thoe which brought this document in to existence tn while he was on hla third voyage to america enemies at home in spain were doing ail they could to bring about his downfall they succeeded in turning ang ferdinand who from the first had not been nearly as enthusiastic concern ing the venture as was his queen Is abella against columbus and even the queen seemed either disinclined dis inclined to defend him or was helpless to do so so columbus who had returned in 1493 from his first voyage as a na hero now came home in irons and in disgrace but almost as soon as he had arrived ferdinand and isabella experienced a change of heart columbus was immediately set free and received an invitation to visit the ling and queen which he did and was warmly received he told the royal pair of his adventures abroad and re calved commendation however he was not so successful in gaining restitution and property to which he was entitled the best he was able to do was to secure a declaration la from the throne fixing the extent and manner of restitution the result was disappointing more corn to pile UD columbus expected to leave soon on a fourth voyage alth his privileges rights grants and even his spanish citizenship imperiled he took steps to prevent if possible their loss the result was the columbus codex on january B 1502 he called into consultation two al caldes or city judges and several notaries not aries they drew up and had transcribed a statement of the explorers rights several copies were made these to be deposit cd where they could be safely preserved thus columbus hoped to pro hect himself against hh enemies thirty five documents were included in this codex they were the erera charter as an admiral and governor general his warrant granted by isabella authorizing him to equip ships to share in the expense and profits of the voyage to india tc adjudicate and distribute lands and letters from various dignitaries ex pressing appreciation 0 his services of the four copies of the codes made in 1502 three are known to ex afa lar aar ast 1st today including the one in the possession of this country one went to the republic of genoa today it ii highly treasured by tha municipality being contained tn a bronze bust of columbus in the municipal palace the other copy was misplaced after but in 1880 it turned up in paris it is believed to have found its way there when napoleon ordered all archives deposited in the french capital in 1809 and documents were sent from all parts of europe restitution tit ution was later made but the codex apparently was overlooked it Is in carls today the fourth copy which Is unaccounted for was on paper rather than parchment it went to don alonzo sanchez de carvajal alo soon after left for th documents and may have been destroyed st for they have never yet been brought to light the story of how america came into possession of its copy of the codex la a romantic one in 1818 edward alverett Lv erett the gifted new england orator was rummaging through an old book shop in r lorence italy when he came across the manuscript of about 80 pages n characters which appeared to be of columbus time in 1823 the codex at geneva was pub lashed and everett discovered that alie manuscript in tits possession coincided precisely with those in the genoese volume after everett made this statement in 1824 the manuscript again dropped from public notice and apparently was forgotten by all concerned about justan engaged in his monumental life of columbus Colum bug wrote to dr william everett whose father edward everett had died ask ing whether he inspect the relic doctor everett was unable to locate it at that time but in it came to light in the locked lower part of a bookcase which had remained after his fr death still its adventures before reaching the safe custody of the american government were not at an end once after being sent to london for the inspection spec tion of experts it lay in its wrappings on a tallo lu the everett home when the room in which it was was swept by flames from which however the precious document was seemingly miraculously spared it was finally sold to the library of congress by doctor everett for a sum which was nominal compared with what it would have commanded in the open market but the codex Is not the only treis ure of columbiana Colum blana owned by th american people and preserved in their great library tn washington ancient books of only a few crudely printed pages which first told of bis great achievement are also included tn the collection columbus at I 1 isbon upon his return from the first voyage on march 4 1493 and under date of march 14 he dispatched to gabriel sometimes called raphael sanchez or treasurer to ferdinand and isabella his famous letter written aboard his caravel reporting his discovery of alie new world the spanish ambassador to nome at that time was cardinal bernaden ln carvajal and on july 19 his eminence delivered before pope alexander VI an oration concerning this event which was printed in home presumably by plan noli in that same year this was the first wide heralding of the momentous discovery and a copy of this rare book lg among the treasures of the library the library also owns the first print ed biography of columbus this lg found in its copy of alie first polyglot edition of the scriptures printed at genoa in 1510 the story of the life of the discoverer appears in it as a marginal note to the ath psalm by Mw paper Lulo nl t i y t S |