Letter published by Baldelli Boni in , relating to the third voyage. Venetian texts: Ca. Letter of Girolamo Vianello to the Signoria of Venice , dated 23 December, , relating to a fifth voyage, published for the first time by Humboldt, in Letter of Francesco Corner to the Signoria of Venice , dated 19 June, , relating to a sixth voyage, published for the first time by Harrisee, in The principal question turns, at once, upon the authenticity of the voyage and upon that of the publications A, Ba, Bb, Bc, Bd, Ca, and Cb.
In general, a very erroneous confusion is made between two points: nearly every one admits the authenticity of the publications A and Ba, but many reject the authenticity of the first voyage, made by Vespucci in the years and , and described in the publication Ba. Some, as Varuhagen and others, deny the authenticity of the texts Bb, Bc, and Bd, while others hold the contrary opinion with regard to one or another, or to all three, of these texts.
Nearly all regard as inadmissible the fifth and the sixth voyages, narrated in the texts Ca and Cb. For the various editions of the "Mundus novus", the publication of Sarnow and of Trubenbach is exhaustive, but there is no critical edition of any of the other texts, which were printed with many errors ; while, as has been said, the apocryphal , though contemporary, texts of all of them are preserved at Florence. The present writer proposed the preparation of a critical edition of this kind, and the proposition was approved by three National Geographical Congresses of Italy , held at Florence , at Milan , and at Naples , respectively, and by the International Congress of Americanists, held at Stuttgart, in August, Recently, a commission has been created at Florence , for the execution of that purpose, under the presidency of the Marchese Filippo Corsini, president of the Society of Geographical and Colonial Study resident at Florence ; of this commission, Professor Attilo Mori, of the Military Geographical Institute, and the writer of this article are members.
Until the publication in question appears, it will be useless to discuss the genuineness of the voyages of Vespucci, basing such discussion upon the incorrect texts that are now available--exception being made of the "Mundus novus", cited above.
Those seeking further details in regard to these codices may consult Harrisse, "Biblioteca americana vetustissima" , and "Additions" All the works of that author, whether bibliographical or historical, are the basis for any work on the discovery of America. It is well known today that Vespucci was in no way responsible for the fact that his name, and not that of Columbus , was given to the New World , and therefore, that he certainly does not deserve the charge of theft that has been made against him by many; among them, the famous American publicist, Emerson, who was led into error by partisan writers.
On the other hand, the affectionate correspondence between the two great navigators would suffice to disprove all unworthy accusations.
The charge received some support from the efforts of a considerable portion of the clergy , throughout the world, to obtain the canonization of Columbus , which, however, was unsuccessful, when the merits of the case were examined, by order of Leo XIII , on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the discovery of America.
At that time , the general outcry against Amerigo Vespucci was so great that the famous American statesman Blaine, upon the occasion of the exposition at Chicago , published a book under the title of "Columbus and Columbia," in order that it might not be contaminated by the unholy name of Vespucci. It may be remarked that, at the time of the discovery of America, as is now clearly proven , the narratives of the voyages of Vespucci were more widely disseminated, by far, than were those of the voyages of Columbus , and that Florence was the chief centre for the diffusion of news on the discovery of the New World.
Many attempts were made to name the New World Columbia , as justice seemed to demand, but all such efforts failed. The writer has tried to clear up these points and to prove the honesty of Vespucci; and his efforts have received the approbation of the Numismatic and Archaeological Society of New York; for, the latter, having resolved to strike, each year, a medal commemorative of some benefactor of America, decided that the first of these medals should be coined in honour of Amerigo Vespucci, and requested the writer to proposed the best portrait of the great navigator for reproduction.
The Society accepted the writer's suggestion and gave the preference to the portrait of the Galleria degli Uffizi of Florence , which is generally considered to be the most genuine, but thought that they should take into account the great map of Waldseemuller , of , on which there is a portrait of Amerigo Vespucci; and therefore, the medal was struck with the two portraits, one on either side. Some may find it strange that certain authors are not cited, as, for example, Hugues, who has written numerous very learned works on Vespucci, totally devoid, however, of criticism; they are all cited in the Bibliografia of Fumagalli.
Hugues and Varnhagen regard as apocryphal some narratives of voyages of Vespucci that are regarded by other writers as being the most authentic; and they base this view on the fact that the narratives in question were published two or three centuries after the death of Vespucci.
By that reasoning, one should declare the commentary of Pietro Alighieri on the "Divine Comedy" to be apocryphal, for it was published five centuries after Dante's death. He was placed as a clerk in the great commercial house of the Medici, then the ruling family in Florence. A letter of the 30th of December shows that he was then in Seville; and until the 12th of January he seems to have usually resided in Spain, especially at Seville and Cadiz, probably as an agent of the Medici.
In December , on the death of a Florentine merchant, Juanoto Berardi, established at Seville, who had fitted out the second expedition of Christopher Columbus in , and had also undertaken to fit out twelve ships for the king of Spain April 9th, , Vespucci was commissioned to complete the contract.
As Ferdinand, on the 10th of April , recalled the monopoly conceded to Columbus this order of April 10th, , was cancelled on June 2nd, , "private" exploring now had an opportunity, and adventurers of all kinds were able to leave Spain for the West. Vespucci claims to have sailed with one of these "freelance" expeditions from Cadiz on the 10th of May This should have brought them into the Pacific.
They sailed along the coast, says Vespucci, for 80 leagues to the province of Parias or Lariab , and then leagues more, always to the northwest, to the "finest harbor in the world", which from this description should be in British Columbia or thereabouts.
On the upper part of the map, with the hemisphere comprising the Old World, appears the picture of Ptolemy; on the part of the map with the New World hemisphere is the picture of Vespucci. It is uncertain whether Vespucci took part in yet another expedition —04 for the Portuguese government it is said that he may have been with one under Gonzalo Coelho. In any case, this expedition contributed no fresh knowledge. Although Vespucci subsequently helped to prepare other expeditions, he never again joined one in person.
He also had to prepare the official map of newly discovered lands and of the routes to them for the royal survey , interpreting and coordinating all data that the captains were obliged to furnish. Vespucci, who had obtained Spanish citizenship, held this position until his death.
Some scholars have held Vespucci to be a usurper of the merits of others. Yet, despite the possibly deceptive claims made by him or advanced on his behalf, he was a genuine pioneer of Atlantic exploration and a vivid contributor to the early travel literature of the New World. For more information visit Britannica.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto, as he was known in Italian was an Italian explorer and navigator who may have developed the idea of sailing westward to reach the riches of Asia while working for a Venetian merchant. Though the exact details of his life and expeditions are the Henry Hudson made his first voyage west from England in , when he was hired to find a shorter route to Asia from Europe through the Arctic Ocean.
After twice being turned back by ice, Hudson embarked on a third voyage—this time on behalf of the Dutch East India Company—in A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became The entire family was cultured and friendly with the Medici rulers of Florence, a family that ruled Italy from the s to Born into a prominent family in Florence, Italy, he received a humanistic education from his paternal uncle, a Dominican friar named Giorgio Antonio Vespucci.
The two disputed letters claim that Vespucci made four voyages to America, while at most two can be verified from other sources. At the moment, there is a dispute between historians on when Vespucci visited the mainland the first time.
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