Delle navigationi et viaggi
thumb|upright=1.4|La Terra de Hochelaga in New France, with Mount Royal on the left, drawn by Giacomo Gastaldi, illustration from Delle navigationi et viaggi. thumb|upright=1.4|The Americas as drawn by Giacomo Gastaldi, illustration from Delle navigationi et viaggi.
Delle navigationi et viaggi (Navigations and Voyages) is a sixteenth-century historical and geographical compilation edited by the Venetian diplomat, geographer, and humanist Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1485–1557). The work was published in three volumes in Venice in 1550, 1556, and 1559 by the Giunti press.
Ramusio may have come into contact with the navigator Sebastian Cabot, son of John Cabot, when he was charged with negotiating Cabot's possible service to the Republic of Venice.
Contents
Ramusio's major work represents one of the most extensive collections of travel accounts compiled in the sixteenth century. Published in three volumes between 1550 and 1559 by the Giunti press in Venice, it gathers narratives and testimonies of explorers from antiquity to the early modern period. Ramusio began collecting material around 1520 and continued for decades, selecting, translating, and commenting on texts from multiple languages and cultural traditions.
The first volume, devoted to Africa, appeared in 1550; the third, dedicated to the New World, in 1553; and the second, focused on Asia, was published posthumously in 1559, partially damaged due to a fire at the printing house. The volumes were initially issued anonymously, but included dedicatory letters from Ramusio to Girolamo Fracastoro, revealing their close friendship and intellectual exchange.
Ramusio did not merely compile texts but enriched them with introductions, analyses, and scientific and moral reflections. Notable examples include his essay on the causes of the flooding of the Nile and his discourses on the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan and the spice trade, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of geography and global economic dynamics.
Delle navigationi et viaggi was accompanied by a substantial cartographic apparatus, probably produced in collaboration with Giacomo Gastaldi, and enjoyed wide European success, later inspiring the collections of Richard Hakluyt, Theodor de Bry, and Samuel Purchas. Through numerous reprints and translations, the work contributed to a comparative and unified vision of the known world, combining humanist curiosity with the emerging scientific spirit of the Age of Discovery.
Structure
thumb|upright=1.4|First tome The work is divided into six tomes, comprising a total of 2,787 pages. It was dedicated to the Veronese physician, philosopher, astronomer, and geographer Girolamo Fracastoro (1478–1553).
Volume I
- Dedication to Girolamo Fracastoro
- Preface by Tommaso Giunti
- Description of Africa by Leo Africanus
- Voyages of Alvise Cadamosto and Pedro de Sintra
- Voyage of Hanno the Navigator
- Portuguese voyages to the East Indies (Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Amerigo Vespucci)
- Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema
Volume II
- Letters from India by Andrea Corsali
- Journey to Ethiopia by Francisco Álvares
- Discourse on the flooding of the Nile
- Voyage of Nearchus
- Account of Magellan's circumnavigation by Antonio Pigafetta
- Accounts of the Moluccas and Japan
Volume III
- Voyages of Marco Polo
- Accounts of Persia, Muscovy, and Russia
- Commentaries translated from Sigismund von Herberstein