Columbus Soliciting Aid of Isabella
Additional Details:
| First Day of Issue: May 22, 1992; First Issue Location: Chicago, Illinois. In 1484, after years of sailing experience to such faraway places as Africa and Iceland, Christopher Columbus presented a petition to King John II of Portugal for what he called "Enterprise of the Indies." By sailing westward, he contended, ships could reach the Indies. The good King turned his proposal over to a committee and they flatly rejected it. Not to be discouraged, Columbus turned to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain for support. They, like King John II, turned it over to a panel of their own experts, who also rejected the idea. The reasons? The distance was too great, and the proposal infeasible. Finally, in the spring of 1492 the venture was financed from the royal coffers and the great navigator was on his way. Columbus' quest for funds and his appeal to Queen Isabella was commemorated in 1893 on the5-cent Columbus Soliciting Aid of Isabella stamp. The stamp was designed from the monumental work of art Columbus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella by the Czech artist Wenceslas de Brozik (1851-1901) |
