APPENDIX.
337
one known that relates to the disputed voyage, which would establish him as the discoverer of Terra Firma.
It is presumed to have been written in
Latin, and was addressed to R e n é , duke of Lorraine, who assumed the title of king of Sicily and Jerusalem. The
earliest known edition of this letter was published in Latin, in
1507, at St. Diez in Lorraine.
A copy of it has been found in the library of
the Vatican ( N o . 9 6 8 8 ) by the abbe Cancellieri.
In preparing the present
illustration, a reprint of this letter in Latin has been consulted, inserted in the Novus Orbis of Grinaeus, published at Bath in 1532.
T h e letter con
tains a spirited narrative of four voyages which he asserts to have made to the N e w World.
In the prologue he excuses the liberty of addressing
king René by calling to his recollection the ancient intimacy of their youth, when studying the rudiments of science together, under the pater nal uncle of the voyager ; and adds that if the present narrative should not altogether please his Majesty, he must plead to him as Pliny said to Mecasnas, that he used formerly to be amused with his triflings. In the prologue to this letter, he informs king René that affairs of com merce had brought him to Spain, where he had experienced the various changes of fortune attendant on such transactions, and was induced to abandon that pursuit and direct his labors to objects of a more elevated and stable nature.
H e therefore purposed to contemplate various parts of
the world, and to behold the marvels which it contains.
T o this object
both time and place were favorable ; for king Ferdinand was then prepar ing four vessels for the discovery of new lands in the west, and appointed him among the number of those who went in the expedition.
" W e de
parted," he adds, " from the port of Cadiz, M a y 2 0 , 1497, taking our course on the great gulf of ocean ; in which voyage we employed eighteen months, discovering many lands and innumerable islands, chiefly inhabited, of which our ancestors make no mention." A duplicate of this letter appears to have been sent at the same time (written, it is said, in Italian) to Piere Soderini, afterwards Gonfalonier of Florence, which was some years subsequently published in Italy, not earlier than 1 5 1 0 , and entitled " Lettera de Amerigo Vespucci délie Isole nuovamente trovate
in quatro suoi viaggi."
W e have consulted the
edition of this letter in Italian, inserted in the publication of Padre Stanis laus Canovai, already referred to. It has been suggested by an Italian writer, that this letter was written by
Vespucci to Soderini only, and the
address altered to king
René
through the flattery or mistake of the Lorraine editor, without perceiving
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