Filippo Pigafetta's Egypt–Sinai Relation and Cobham's 1582 Candidate Book
Filippo Pigafetta's Egypt–Sinai Relation and Cobham's Candidate Book
Essential Evidence
Cobham's calendared 17 September 1582 letter says of the traveller introduced the previous month as Filippo Pigafetta:
He has written a book of his 'voyage' passed in Turkey and Judea, which he desires her Majesty may see.
This sentence is the controlling description. No surviving title should replace it unless the original letter and candidate text support the identification. British History Online, item 339.
The leading known candidate is Filippo's relation of his 1576–77 journey through Ottoman Egypt and Arabia to Mount Sinai. It fits the named author, date, manuscript form and Turkish political content. It does not literally fit Judea. The result is a narrowed candidate problem, not a solved title.
Sourced Facts
Work identity and title
The University of Padua Echos record gives the extended title:
Relazione o Viaggio del Signor Filippo Pigafetta Nobile Vicentino d'intorno al viaggio dell'Egitto, dell'Arabia. Del Mar Rosso e del Monte Sinai, dove si descrive partitamente il sito di quelle Province, l'aumento del Nilo, le Piramidi, le fabbriche antiche, adattando i nomi moderni agli antichi, le forze militari del Turco, che tiene nell'Egitto, nell'Arabia Felice, e nel Mar Rosso e nell'Etiopia, e insomma dichiaransi tutte le particolarità pertinenti ad uomo di Stato. Data alla Santità di Nostro Signore Sisto Quinto.
Working translation of its scope: a relation of Egypt, Arabia, the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, describing geography, Nile flooding, pyramids and antiquities, Ottoman forces in Egypt, Arabia Felix, the Red Sea and Ethiopia, and matters pertinent to a statesman; the surviving presentation form is addressed to Sixtus V.
The title establishes Ottoman and state-information content. Its address to Sixtus V is a later presentation state, not proof that the same copy was intended for Elizabeth in 1582.
Journey chronology
- Echos dates the outward movement from Crete to 3 October 1576.
- The route continued through Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo and Mount Sinai.
- Pigafetta returned to Cairo on 16 March 1577; the diary ends there.
- He did not return to the Veneto until October 1579.
- Daria Perocco describes the relation as combining archaeological, religious, geographical, military and political interests.
Manuscript witnesses
The Echos source record identifies four principal witnesses:
- Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, D.433;
- Vicenza, Biblioteca Bertoliana, Malacarne, Gonz.24.9.15;
- Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Rangoni 6319:5, 6 and 7;
- Turin, Archivio di Stato, Francesconi 49.
The Bertoliana catalogue also describes a later Da Schio miscellany, MS 1815, containing Viaggio di Filippo Pigafetta dal Cairo al Monte Sinai, incipit Essendomi partito di Alessandria, fols. 1r–22v. This later compilation must not be counted as a fifth autograph witness without manuscript examination.
The Judea problem
Filippo's documented route is Egypt–Arabia–Sinai, not Judea. Pre-1600 English controls make it unsafe to call the words synonyms:
- Batman's 1582 Bartholomew says Judea is part of Syria and is
next to Egypt and Arabia—adjacency, not identity (TCP A05237). - The 1582 Mandeville distinguishes the land of Judea from Egypt and Arabia (TCP A06817).
- Thomas Washington's 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay distinguishes Judea, Egypt and Arabia (TCP A08239).
- John Prime in 1587 places Sinai in Arabia while separately naming Palestine/Judea (TCP A10111).
Possible explanations remain: Cobham summarized a Holy Land-adjacent journey loosely; Pigafetta described a different work; or another relation is lost or unidentified. None is yet proved.
Candidate Comparison
| Work | Exact author fit | Route fit | Form by 1582 | Controlled conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt–Sinai relation | Yes, Filippo | Ottoman Egypt and Sinai; no Judea | Manuscript relation | Leading known candidate, unresolved mismatch |
| Marc'Antonio's Itinerario | No, different Pigafetta | Vienna–Constantinople; no Judea | Manuscript later printed 1585 | Poor match |
| Filippo's Del regno di Candia | Yes | Crete and Ottoman threat; no voyage to Judea | Manuscript | Not the described route |
| Filippo's Bessarion translation | Yes | Anti-Ottoman subject, no voyage | Printed 1573 | Context only |
Quoted Source Passages
Cobham's 21 August identification must be read with the September description:
There is also one Philippo Pigafetta, of 'Vinsentia,' a philosopher, who has likewise given me to understand he desires to go into England, being of young Mr Nevill's acquaintance.
British History Online, item 266.
Citations and Access Notes
- Daria Perocco, “Pigafetta, Filippo,” *Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani* 83 (2015).
- University of Padua Echos, source record 40 and travel record 31.
- Biblioteca Bertoliana, manuscript catalogue record 43894.
- Modern edition: Alvise da Schio, ed., Viaggio da Creta in Egitto ed al Sinai, 1576–1577 (Vicenza, 1984). Not inspected in this pass.
The Echos and Bertoliana records control work and witness identity; they do not prove that a surviving witness is the object Cobham wanted Elizabeth to see.