Em nome de Deus: The Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama to India, 1497-1499 [European Expansion and Indigenous Response #4]

(Excerpts from the Preface:) ... this document affords us a more contemporary and everyman description of these events than the one provided in the poetry of Camões or the chronicler accounts written in the 16th century. Th is document is the Roteiro (rutter) or Journal of the voyage kept by one of the members of Vasco da Gama’s crew. Th is source not only provides glimpses into da Gama’s personality, but also furnishes a much needed counter-point to the deification of these events which since the days of Camões has periodically colored the historiography. Th is is not to say that the Roteiro forces us to deconstruct and negate the deeds of Vasco da Gama and his crew. Rather, in describing them in common and eyewitness fashion,the Roteiro (= log) allows us to appreciate da Gama’s accomplishments stripped of hyperbole and to judge them for what they were, as they happened. Moreover, the author’s straightforward and unadorned prose provides valuable insights into what the average European of the late 15th century first thought when confronted by the diverse and rich cultures of Africa and India at this time. I have long believed that this document deserves a far greater audience than it has hitherto received, especially in English. (...)Since the discovery of the manuscript copy in 1834, the most highly debated topic related to this Journal has focused around the question of who wrote this unique document on Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India. Unfortunately, the surviving copy found by Herculano had no title page or other autograph which identified its author.The manuscript was anonymous either by fate or design. The Voyage Of Vasco Da Gama To India (1497-1499) Was One Of The Seminal Events Of The Renaissance Period. An Anonymous Journal Kept By A Member Of His Fleet Has Long Served As The Main Documentary Source For Accounts Of This Voyage. Strangely, There Has Only Been One English Translation Of This Important Document, Published More Than A Century Ago. This Book Provides A New, Updated English Translation Of The Journal With Extensive Editorial Notes And Appendices Which Encompass And Reflect Changes In The Historiography Over The Last Century On Vasco Da Gama And His First Voyage. In Doing So, It Examines Initial Portuguese Impressions When Confronted By The Cultures Of Africa And India During This Period.-- Background To The Voyage -- The Voyage -- Across The Arabian Sea -- The Return Voyage -- The Kingdoms To The South Of Calicut -- The Language Of Calicut -- Appendix I. Men In Da Gama’s Fleet -- Appendix Ii. Sixteenth Century Chronicler Accounts Of The Final Stafes Of The Voyage And Da Gama's Return To Lisbon -- Appendix Iii. Contemporary Letters Describing The Voyage --appendix Iv. Honors Granted To Vasco Da Gama, 1499-1502 -- Appendix V. Vasco Da Gama’s Sailing Instructions To Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ca. 1500 -- Appendix Vi: Calcoen: A Narrative Of The Second Voyage Of Vasco Da Gama To Claicut, 1502. Translated And Edited By Glenn J. Ames. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [171]-176) And Index. Based on historiographical changes over the last century, this new edited edition of the Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama to India (1497-1499) provides the first English translation of this important expedition in more than a century.