The print collection of Ferdinand Columbus (1488-1539)

Ferdinand Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus and author of the first published account of a voyage to the New World, was also the owner of one of the largest libraries assembled during the Renaissance and the most important early collection of prints.

By the time of his death in 1539 the collection numbered over 3000 prints.

Although it is now dispersed, a detailed inventory survives in the Biblioteca Colombina in Seville, and this book is the result of a process of reconstruction: half the works have been identified.

Many of the identified prints are very rare, with around 400 surviving as unique examples.

Artists represented are from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and include Durer, Cranach, Ugo da Carpi, Lucas van Leyden and Marcantonio Raimondi.

The inventory also contains descriptions of prints by prominent artists that have not survived, and others that shed light on the enormous printmaking industry that existed in the Renaissance.

The findings will radically transform our understanding of Renaissance printmaking, its origins, markets and development. This two volume publication comes in a slipcase, and a CD with a searchable database of the inventory is included.