From Lisbon to Calicut

From Lisbon to Calicut was first published in 1956. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

This handsomely designed volume will appeal especially to collectors and bibliophiles. It presents a translation of the text and a facsimile reproduction of a tract which was published in Nuremberg in 1505. An original copy is in the James Ford Bell Collection in the University of Minnesota library, and the only other known copy is in the British museum. The tract sets forth directions on how to sail from Lisbon to Calcutta and dwells upon the bright prospects for Portuguese trade with India. It is the earliest known example of promotional literature published in central Europe on the commercial possibilities of India which includes a map outlining the newly found Cape of Good Hope route. The book is printed in two colors and there are endpaper maps.