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CONCERNING 
 
 AMERICUS VESPUCCIUS 
 
*^* Only Two Hundred and Fifty copies 
 are printed, of which this is 
 
 ^0. 152 
 
ARMS OF BALTHAZAR SPRENGER 
 
 THE REAL AUTHOR OF THE ALLEGED VESPUCCIAN 
 VOYAGE FROM LISBON TO INDIA I505-6. 
 
Americus Vespuccius 
 
 e/f Critical and T)ocumentary 
 ^^eview of Two recent English 
 ^ooks concerning that C^(avigator 
 
 By Henry Harrisse 
 
 LONDON 
 
 B. F. STEVENS, 4 TRAFALGAR SQUARE 
 
 1895 
 
CHISWICK PRESS :~CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. 
 
PUBLISHER'S APOLOGY. 
 
 LL books and manuscripts asso- 
 ciating the name of Americus 
 Vespuccius, rightly or wrongly, 
 with voyages or expeditions, are 
 of importance to collectors of 
 Americana. 
 Having recently published the Voyage from 
 Lisbon to India ^ 1 505-6, being an Account and 
 Journal by Albericus Vespuccius, translated 
 from the contemporary Flemish and edited 
 with Prologue and Notes by C, H. Coote, De- 
 partment of Printed Books (Geographical Sec- 
 tion), British Museum, I now have pleasure in 
 issuing a controversial twin volume, Afnericus 
 Vespuccius : A Critical and Documentary 
 Review of two recent English Books concerning 
 that Navigator, by Henry Harrisse, 
 
 As a Publisher, I have only to present both 
 sides of the question, and leave the reader to 
 judge for himself. Meanwhile, it will be readily 
 granted that these two publications possess the 
 merit of reviving, in one form or another, the 
 
 5 
 
fullest and most authentic account, long since 
 forgotten, of one of the greatest achievements in 
 the history of maritime enterprise. This, of 
 itself, would suffice to enlist the goodwill of the 
 historical student. 
 
 In addition to a review of Mr. Markham*s 
 and of Mr. Coote's books on Vespuccius, the 
 reader will find a bibliographical analysis of 
 thirteen ancient documents relative to the part 
 which the merchant-princes of Augsburg and 
 Nuremberg took in the famous expeditions of 
 the Portuguese to India, at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century. Mr. Harrisse has also added 
 interesting extracts from the original texts, with 
 a translation into English, and compared them 
 with the Flemish version edited by Mr. Coote. 
 
 I may finally call attention to the chapter 
 concerning the extremely rare plates designed 
 by Hans Burgkmair in 1508, and their imita- 
 tions, which refer to the marvellous exploits of 
 Francisco d^Almeida in Africa and the East 
 Indies. 
 
 B. F. S. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 HE four voyages of Americus 
 Vespuccius across the Ocean 
 (1497- 1 504), remain the enigma 
 of the early history of America. 
 The probability is that it will 
 never be solved. Yet every 
 new book on the subject engrosses at once the 
 attention of the student who takes an interest in 
 the first Transatlantic navigations, and that even 
 in a higher degree than the writings devoted to 
 Christopher Columbus. Perhaps it is owing to 
 the fact that we are getting every day nearer the 
 truth regarding the life and deeds of the great 
 Genoese, whilst, on the contrary, the calumniated 
 Florentine recedes more and more from the field 
 of historical demonstration. 
 
 Twoworkswhich have been published recently 
 in England on the question, afford another in- 
 stance of this seeming paradox. One of these 
 sets forth deductions from imaginary premises ; 
 the other is a sheer imposture, dating from the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, and now 
 unconsciously revived. 
 
A Review of Two recent 
 
 English Books. 
 
 I. 
 
 ^^^HE first of these two books is 
 a volume lately issued by the 
 Hakluyt Society, under the fol- 
 lowing title : 
 
 The letters of Amerigo Ves-^ 
 
 pucci, and other doctunent^ 
 
 illustrative of his career. Translated, with 
 
 Notes and an Introduction, by Clements R^ 
 
 Markham, C,B,, F,RS., President of the 
 
 ^ Hakluyt Society. 
 
 . It is a useful collection of the original docu- 
 ments, known at present, concerning the vexed 
 question of Vespuccius' voyages to the New 
 World. A noticeable omission, however, is the 
 letter written by him, December 30th, 1492, to 
 K 9 B 
 
Corradolo Stanga, discovered in the State Ar- 
 chives at Mantua, as it gives the earliest and 
 first positive date of his establishment in Spain. 
 The letter is signed : **Ser. Amerigho Vespucci 
 merchante fiorentino in Sybilia.'* 
 
 Mr. Markham's Introduction is an elaborate, 
 and at times forcible statement of all that can be 
 alleged against the authenticity of Vespuccius* 
 four Oceanic expeditions. The truth is, that the 
 accounts of those voyages, such as they have 
 reached us, whether in Italian or Latin, are all 
 liable to very grave objections, which we cer- 
 tainly do not pretend to be in a position to re- 
 move. It does not follow, however, that Mr. 
 Markham, any more than other critical his- 
 torians, has succeeded in proving that Ves- 
 puccius' narratives are impossible, or ima- 
 ginary. The doubters cannot even boast of 
 having thus far elicited the least particle of docu- 
 mentary evidence in support of their opinion, or 
 added anything authentic to our knowledge on 
 the subject. 
 
 Critics should keep in mind that we possess 
 only abstracts, — not intended to convey precise 
 information, but drawn up for familiar epistolary 
 reading, and perhaps not by Vespuccius himself, 
 — of a large work of his, to which these abstracts 
 frequently refer. One such reference is in these 
 words : . 
 
 "I (Vespuccius) have written the greater part of the things that 
 a book to be called The Four I saw, very clearly and to the 
 Voyages^ in w^ich I have related bqst of my ability. I have not 
 
 10 
 
yet published it, because my own lish it. In this work will be seen 
 affairs are in such a bad state that every event in detail, so I do not 
 I have no taste for what I have enlarge upon them here." (Mark- 
 written, yet I am inclined to pub- ham's translation, xxi.) 
 
 Another reference is as follows : 
 
 ** In each of my voyages I have which all things are described in 
 
 noted down the most remarkable detail ; but I have not yet sent 
 
 things, and all is reduced to a out a copy, because it is necessary 
 
 volume, in the geographical style, for me to revise it." {Ibidem.) 
 entitled The Four Voyages^ in 
 
 It is gratuitous on the part of Mr. Markham 
 to assume that Vespuccius only contemplated 
 writing the book, and that it never was actually 
 written, simply because in the Medici letter he 
 speaks of ** completing his work in consultation 
 with learned persons and aided by friends, wheri; 
 he should return home.'' The Let f era, which 
 contains the positive declarations quoted by us, 
 was penned and published not less than seven- 
 teen months after the Medici letter. Mr. Mark- 
 ham's argument therefore is unsound. 
 
 Again, Mr. Markham lays much stress upon 
 the objections to be found in the Historia of Las 
 Casas, written at least a quarter of a century after 
 the Vespuccian voyages. He goes even so far as 
 to say: ''The authority of L^s Casas is alone 
 conclusive." We do not see it in that light. The 
 good bishop does not speak of his own know- 
 ledge, nor did he have access to particular sources 
 of information on that point. He had consulted 
 exclusively the documents which we possess our- 
 selves, viz. : Jean Basin's Latin version, printed 
 at St. Did in 1507, of a French duplicate of 
 
 II 
 
Vespuccius' abridged accounts/ and the Roga- 
 tory Commissions of 1513-15/ published by 
 Navarrete seventy years ago/ Las Casas, 
 consequently, gives only his own interpretation 
 of, data which we can appreciate as well as he 
 did ; and this interpretation is not entitled, so 
 far as evidence is concerned, to greater credit 
 than the private opinion of any of us. 
 
 Mr. Markham would fare much better if the 
 alibi which he alleges really existed. In fact, 
 his theory requires him to show that at the time 
 when Vespuccius claims to have been accomplish- 
 ing the voyage of 1497-99, he was pursuing in 
 Spain what Mr. Markham elegantly calls the 
 occupation of **beef contractor.''* Unfortu- 
 nately for this statement, indeed, we do not 
 ** learn that entries prove that Vespucci continued 
 his business of provision merchant at least 
 until May, 1498/'^ Navarrete, quoted by Mr. 
 Markham to substantiate that assertion, avers 
 nothing of the kind, either **on the authority 
 of Munoz," or on his own. He only states ^ that 
 Vespuccius '^continued to attend to the equipping 
 of the fleet until it sailed from San Lucar.'* 
 Then, regarding entries dated in his text re- 
 spectively December, 1495, and January, 1496, 
 Navarrete refers to extracts made by Munoz 
 
 * Las Casas, Historia de las Espanoles ; Madrid, 1825, 4to, 
 
 Indias; Madrid, i875,8vo,vol.ii., vol. iii., pp. 538-591' 
 p. 271. * Markham, p. vi. 
 
 ^ Ibidem^ vol. ii., p. 272. " Ibidem^ pp. v, vi.^ 
 
 ' Navarrete, Coleccmi de los " Navarrete, vol. iii., p. 317. 
 viages que hicieron por mar los 
 
 12 
 
from Book Second of Gaslos de las armadas de 
 las Indias of the Casa de Contratacion. That 
 is all. Humboldt^ is likewise entirely mis- 
 taken in this respect, and for the same reasons. 
 As a proof, we beg to reproduce the original 
 text referred to by those eminent writers : 
 
 "Entre varias partidas de ma- noto fizo con ellos y del mantenu 
 
 ravedis que en cuenta del flete miento^ etc,'' Para lo cual recibio 
 
 de estas naves se abonaron a .... Amkrigode Pinelo \Qpmrs. 
 
 Berardi por el tesorero Pinelo, en 12 de Enero de 14^6, Siguid 
 
 de orden de D. Juan Fonseca, Vespucio disponiendo todas las 
 
 hay dos que recibid Amerigo cosas hasta despachar la armada 
 
 Vespuche h. nombre del mismo en Sanliicar." (Then, in note 2) 
 
 Berardi, y habiendo este fallecido " Hallanse estas noticias en el lib. 
 
 en Diciembre de 1495 • * ^^^- 2°. de los gastos de las armadas 
 
 puche se encargb de iener la cuenta de las Indias que existe en la 
 
 con los , , , . Maestres . . . , del Contratacion de Sevilla, de donde 
 
 jflete y sueldo que hobiesen de haber^ lo extracto Muiioz." (Navarrete, 
 
 segun el asiento que el dicho Jua- loc. cit.) 
 
 Mr. Markham, consequently, before exclaiming 
 that **the evidence of so high an authority as 
 Munoz cannot so lightly be set aside,'' ^ should 
 have commenced by ascertaining whether there 
 was actually such evidence on the part of 
 Munoz. Besides, we frankly confess to caring 
 very little for bare statements, made in our days, 
 it does not matter by whom, regarding historical 
 facts alleged to have occurred four centuries ago. 
 It is more to our purpose to state that no entry 
 referring, directly or indirectly, to those dealings 
 of Vespuccius, and of a date posterior to January 
 1 2th, 1496, has ever been found in the archives 
 
 ^ Humboldt, Examen Critique nomie nautique ; Paris, 1836-39, 
 de la Geographic du Nouveau 8vo, vol. iv., p. 268. 
 Continent ct desprogrh de I' astro- ^ Markham, op. cit., p. v, note. 
 
 13 
 
of the Casa, and still less among the 127 volumes 
 containing all the extracts and notes made by 
 Munozwhen, in 1779, Charles 1 1 1, commissioned 
 him to write a history of America. As to the 
 fleet mentioned, it is the one composed of twelve 
 ships, contracted for with Berardi in April, 1495, 
 and which were all despatched from San Lucar 
 before the end of that very year, 1495 (not 1498). 
 What Vespuccius did in connection with the ex- 
 pedition was simply to supervise its fitting out, 
 from April until November, 1495, and to pay on 
 account of the Berardi estate certain expenses 
 relating to the same, which were reimbursed to 
 him by the State Treasurer, January 12th, 1496. 
 After the latter date, Vespuccius' name disap-^ 
 pears entirely from the Spanish or other docu- 
 ments, and does not recur before February 5th, 
 1505. There is not a shadow of proof, conse- 
 quently, that Vespuccius was at Seville, or even 
 in Spain, from 1496 until after 1498, and there 
 is nothing whatever to show that he cannot have 
 been at sea from May, 1497, ^^ October, 1499, as 
 is stated in the accounts of his first voyage of 
 discovery. 
 
 Other assertions, equally erroneous, might be 
 pointed out in Mr. Markham's book ; but we 
 must now proceed to speak of the second work 
 under examination. 
 
 14 
 
11. 
 
 HE second work is a late publi- 
 cation made in perfect good faith 
 by all the parties concerned, and 
 entitled as follows : 
 
 The Voyage from Lisbon to India y 
 1505-6. Being an Account 
 and Journal by Albericus Vespuccius, Trans- 
 lated from the contemporary Flemish, and 
 ^ Edited with a Prologue and Notes by C, H. 
 Coote, Department of Printed Books {Geo- 
 graphical Section), British Museum} 
 
 This volume is rather curious, particularly 
 on account of the singular process of reasoning 
 which led its present editor to prepare ,a new 
 edition for the press. It also affords a fair insight 
 into the kind of learning which underlies the 
 judgments of a certain class of critics, and their 
 method of investigating historical problems. 
 
 _ V London, B. F. Stevens, 4, simile, with nine plates. Only 
 Trafalgar Square, 1894; small 250 copies printed, six of which 
 4to, xxvii and 56 pages, 24 in fac- are on, parchment. _ 
 
 is 
 
In the AthencBum for November 5th, 1892, 
 p. 624, it was announced that *'an apparently 
 unknown letter of Vespucci, in Dutch, had quite 
 recently turned up in Holland." It recorded, 
 we were told, a voyage made by him from 
 Lisbon to Calicut, from March, 1500, to Novem- 
 ber, 1 50 1. The news was startling, as, if true, 
 it demolished at once the authenticity of the 
 second voyage of Vespuccius (May, 1499 — Sep- 
 tember, .1500), and of the third (May, 1501 — 
 September, 1502). 
 
 To commence with. That letter is so far 
 from having turned up *' quite recently" in 
 Holland or elsewhere, that it was sold under the 
 hammer (for five florins) at a celebrated book- 
 sale in Amsterdam forty-one years ago,^ and 
 has scarcely been lost sight of since. Nor is 
 it ** apparently unknown." Every competent 
 bibliographer knew of its existence, as it is 
 exactly described, not only in the noted cata- 
 logue of that sale, but also by the well-known 
 Ternaux^ and Tiele.^ It was, however, con- 
 sidered already to be '* zeer Zeldzaam — very 
 rare" before it was acquired by the British 
 Museum, December 4th, 1855. The superla-r 
 
 . * "Die Reyse van Lissebone * Ternaux-Compans, Biblio^ 
 
 om te vare na die Eylandt Na- thlque Asiatique et Africaine ; 
 
 guaria in Groot Indian gheleghen. Paris, 1841, 8vo, No. 2810, p. 
 
 Thantw. 1508, met pi. h. b. [hout 281 {Supplement). 
 
 besneden]. Zeer Zeldzaam^ See ^ Tiele, Nederlandsche Biblio^ 
 
 the Catalogus der Bibliotheek van graphie van Land — En Volken- 
 
 y. Schouten ; Amsterdam, C. kunde ; Amsterdam, 1884, 8 vo, 
 
 Weddepohl, 1853, 8vo, No. 263. p. 203. 
 (Sale in November, 1852.) 
 
 16 
 
tive merit of its new editor consists in his 
 being the first (and only) savant who ever 
 imagined that it was written by Vespuccius. We 
 will soon show what this claim amounts to. 
 As regards *' our lynx-eyed bibliographers of 
 the literature relating to Vespucci '* having 
 omitted to mention the pamphlet, the reader 
 will probably be satisfied with the reason that 
 it does not contain a single word which refers 
 in reality to Vespuccius, — the asseverations of 
 its recent commentator, Mr. Coote, to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding. 
 
 Brief as were the details which he gave in 
 1892, they sufficed to afford a correct estimate 
 of the book ; and clear-headed critics must have 
 experienced a kindly feeling of relief, when they 
 saw the writer of the announcement express a 
 sort of mental reserve, timid as it was, about 
 the authenticity of the Vespuccian attribution, 
 viz., '* // this letter should turn out to be 
 genuine, Vespucci could not have remained in 
 Portugal for four years." 
 
 Those who take an interest in such matters 
 were patiently awaiting further developments in 
 that line, when on page 86 of the Athenceum 
 for January 20th, 1894, blazed forth a new 
 statement from the same savant, to the effect 
 that after erudite researches, the problem had 
 been solved ! Great was then the general sur- 
 prise to find that arguments, which in the usual 
 course of healthy cogitations should have en- 
 couraged him to persist in and profit by his 
 
 17 c 
 
first doubt, had produced quite a contrary effect. 
 This time, he '' ventured to submit that we 
 were confronted with entirely new data respect- 
 ing Vespuccius, which will serve to fill a hiatus 
 in his career simply as a ship purveyor,*' etc., 
 etc. That is, Americus Vespuccius was pro- 
 claimed to be, once for all, the real, unsophisti- 
 cated and unalloyed author of T/^e Voyage from 
 Lisbon to India. The grounds upon which 
 this unexpected conclusion was reached deserve 
 to be stated. 
 
 When Mr. Coote became possessed of Mrs. 
 Barwick's excellent translation of the Flemish 
 text, he found, of course, no difficulty in dis- 
 covering that the year 1 500-1 501 was an error, 
 and in identifying the enterprise with that of 
 Francisco d* Almeida, 1505- 1506. Of all the 
 voyages undertaken by the Portuguese after 
 Vasco da Gamas, this is perhaps the most 
 famous ; and the names of Quiloa, Mombaza, 
 and Cochin, together with the circumstances 
 related concerning those places, were suffi- 
 cient to bring about the necessary identifica- 
 tion. So far so good. But what betrays on 
 the part of the English editor of this reprint 
 either a very inadequate knowledge of the 
 subject, or the most singular lack of critical 
 acumen, is his having failed to perceive, even 
 at a glance, that Vespuccius never did join, 
 and never could have joined the expedition 
 of Almeida in 1505, or at any time. This is 
 quite plain to anyone at all familiar with the 
 
 l8 
 
history of Portuguese and Spanish maritime 
 enterprises. 
 
 The Reyse van Lissebone relates only what 
 might be termed the first part of Almeida's 
 voyage, that is, until he first sent home news 
 of his achievements. This part is embraced 
 between four dates, viz. : 
 
 1505, March 25M. The Por- 
 tuguese fleet sets out from Belem 
 (CoRREA, Lendas ; ii., 534), or 
 from the Rastello (Sprenger, 
 Merfart^ leaf 4th). 
 
 1505, July 2'jth. Almeida 
 crowns the new King of Quiloa 
 (Sprenger, op, cit., leaf 6th). 
 
 1506, January 2nd. Almeida 
 sends, from Cananor, the first 
 home -bound squadron (Mayr, 
 
 Vtageni)^ which arrives at Lisbon, 
 May 22nd, 1506 (Sanuto, Via- 
 rijy vi. 363). 
 
 1506, February ^th. The 
 second home -bound squadron 
 sails from the island of Anjediva» 
 and arrives at Lisbon, November 
 15th following, with the real 
 author of the Reyse van Lissebone 
 on board the Si. Leonard (Spren- 
 ger, op. city leaf 12th). 
 
 It follows, according to the erudite commen- 
 tary of the Reyse s new editor, that Vespuccius 
 was at sea, or in India, sailing under the Portu- 
 guese flag, from March 25th, 1505, until at least 
 November 15th, 1506. We regret to say that 
 official and authentic documents, the originals of 
 which exist still in the archives at Simancas, 
 prove exactly the reverse : 
 
 1^0^, Februaty $th. Vespuccius 
 leaves Seville to offer his services 
 to the Spanish government, bear- 
 ing a letter of introduction from 
 Christopher Columbus (Navar- 
 rete, i. 351), 
 
 ' 1505, February 21st Columbus 
 mentions, in a letter to his son 
 Diego, Vespuccius' presence at 
 the court (Navarrete, i. 352). 
 
 1505, April I ith. King Ferdi- 
 nand requests Queen Juana, at 
 Toro, to grant 12,000 mrs. to Ves- 
 puccius, upon the latter giving his 
 receipt for the same. He is said 
 in the document to be *' a resi- 
 dent of Seville" (Navarrete, 
 iii. 292, doc. iii.). 
 
 1505, April 2 ^ih. Queen Juana 
 makes Vespuccius, by letters 
 
 19 
 
patent, a denizen of Castille, espe- and Vespuccius concerning a fleet 
 
 cially to enable him to hold office which they have been ordered to 
 
 (Navarrete, iii. 293, doc. iv.). fit out {ibidem^ 302, doc. x.). 
 
 1505, May 24M. One Pedro 1505* June ^th. Pedro de Mi- 
 
 de Miranda has his expenses paid randa is sent again to Vicente 
 
 for having gone to Palos by order Yafiez Pinzon, and Americus Ves- 
 
 of Her Majesty the Queen to con- puccius yet in Palos, on the same 
 
 suit with Vicente Yafiez Pinzon errand {ibidem). 
 
 Furthermore, the whole run of the documents 
 shows Vespuccius to have been constantly em- 
 ployed at Seville, for the Crown of Castille, 
 until August 1 8th, 1508, when he was ap- 
 pointed Pilot - Major, and from that date to 
 the time of his death, February 22nd, 15 12. 
 In other words, Vespuccius never left Spain after 
 February, 1505.^ Unless we assume that the 
 Florentine navigator was endowed with ubi- 
 quity, it will be difficult to make people believe 
 that in the year 1505 he was in Spain and in 
 the East Indies exactly at the same time. 
 
 Here is another remarkable specimen of Mr. 
 Coote^s style of historical science and precision. 
 
 What convinced our English editor that Ves- 
 puccius was an eye-witness of the events related 
 in the Reyse, and was indeed the author of that 
 narrative? Simply the following line: "My 
 friend Lorenzo : I Albericus did write to you 
 aforetime about my voyages to the new lands in 
 general." From this brief exordium he most 
 judiciously infers that by *' Albericus ** is meant 
 Americus Vespuccius, that being the form in 
 
 * Navarrete, vol. iii., pp. 294- America^ in the Biographical 
 296 ; our Discovery of North Notes y pp. 742-744. 
 
 20 
 
which the latter's name is given in another 
 pamphlet published by the same printer (Jan 
 van Doesborch, at Antwerp) the year before. 
 After the same fashion, ** Lorenzo '' is inter- 
 preted to mean Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de 
 Medici ; and, on this point, we agree perfectly 
 so far as the wording of the text is concerned. 
 But from Mr. Coote's bold assertion that these 
 names were penned, or even furnished by 
 Vespuccius, we respectfully beg to differ. For 
 Vespuccius is said by him to have been engaged 
 writing this precious letter, after his return to 
 Europe, at the earliest on the 15th of November, 
 1506, at which time ** My friend Lorenzo" had 
 been dead and buried more than three years I 
 Lorenzo, the son of Pier Francesco de Medici, 
 and of Laudomia d'Jacopo Acciajuoli, who had 
 been Vespuccius* employer, as well as real cor- 
 respondent, died at Florence, Saturday, May 
 20th, 1503.' 
 
 Now that all the facts have been duly set forth, 
 it may not be amiss to conclude this chapter with 
 citing one more example of the unique logic 
 and admirable assurance of Mr. Coote. **We 
 venture to affirm," says he (p. xxvii), '*that 
 henceforth, no recognized authority on Ves- 
 pucci's writings will have the courage to elimi- 
 nate from the Vespuccian Canon the long lost 
 specimen of the Antwerp press of 1508" ! 
 
 * Pompeo Litta, Famiglie cele- lio Giusti, 1819-1861, folio; Me- 
 bri italiane; Milano, Paolo Emi- did di Firenze, tavola xii. 
 
 21 
 
IIL 
 
 FTER having demonstrated that 
 the phrase ** Mijn vrient Laue- 
 renti Ick Albericus,'*in the^^jv^^ 
 van Lissebone cannot have been 
 written by Americus Vespuc- 
 cius ; after having proved like- 
 wise that he did not accompany Almeida, at 
 any time, or anywhere, and cannot be, there- 
 fore, the author of that narrative, we have now 
 to show who actually wrote it, **from point to 
 point." This we propose to do in the form of 
 a bibliographical nomenclature of the contem- 
 porary authorities to be consulted regarding 
 that famous voyage of the Portuguese to the 
 East Indies. 
 
 As we have already remarked, the importance 
 of the Voyage to India^ in its original and au- 
 thentic form, resides in the fact that it refers to 
 one of the most celebrated deeds of the Portu- 
 guese in the Indian seas, after the second 
 voyage of Vasco da Gama. It was in the course 
 of the expedition of Francisco d' Almeida that the 
 
 23 
 
rich cities of Quiloa, Mombasa, and Onor, were 
 stormed and conquered. Then, likewise, sultans 
 lost their thrones, and were replaced by others 
 who received at the hand of the great Portuguese 
 commander the golden crowns which he had 
 brought with him from Lisbon. Immense trea- 
 sures became the prey of the conquerors ; their 
 victories carried dismay from Mozambique to 
 Ceylon and almost established the supremacy 
 of Portugal in the Indian regions. 
 
 But what interested us particularly, was the 
 part which the ships sent by the merchant-princes 
 of Augsburg and Nuremberg took in those 
 memorable events, and the important results 
 which inured to German commerce. Our docu- 
 mentary references, therefore, have been made to 
 bear, in preference, on that aspect of Almeida's 
 expedition. The reader will soon perceive the 
 propriety of such a course, in relation to the 
 problems of history and bibliography raised by 
 the recent reprint of Vespuccius' pseudo Voyage 
 from Lisbon to India in 1505-6. 
 
 A. 
 
 1503* January 13TH. 
 
 Konig Emanuel von Portugal ertheilet den 
 Kaufleuten aus Augspurg, und den anderen 
 Stadten TeutschlandSy die sick in der Stadt 
 Lissabon niederlassen viele und vichtige 
 Privilegia. A. 1503. d. 12, Jan. 
 
 24 
 
*' King Emanuel of Portugal grants to the merchants of Augsburg 
 and other cities of Germany who establish their residence in the 
 City of Lisbon, many and important privileges. In the year 
 1 5031 January 13th." 
 
 In Privilegia und Handlungsfreiheitetiy welche die Konige von 
 Portugal ehedem den deutschen Kaufleuten zu Lissabon ertheilet 
 haben. Edited by Joh. Phil. Cassel. Bremen, 177 1, 4to, pp. 
 . 5-10. 
 
 There was, it seems, at Augsburg, from the 
 first three years of the sixteenth century, a 
 German company, ** Der Teutschen Societet," 
 created for purposes of trade in the recently ac- 
 quired possessions of Portugal on the east coast 
 of Africa and in India. Its directors were, in 
 1503, Anton Welser and Conrad ** Filen " 
 (Voehlin). They sent to Lisbon one Simon 
 '* Seyes " (Seitz), to negotiate for special privi- 
 leges, and, January 13th, 1503, he obtained from 
 Joao II., what might be called letters patent/ 
 
 These privileges were not deemed sufficient 
 by the Company, which, the next year, entered 
 into negotiations for an increase of their advan- 
 tages. On August 1st, 1504,"^ the King of Por- 
 tugal made an agreement with that association 
 of German merchants. This agreement seems 
 to have been limited to a single enterprise, which 
 was the expedition intended for India, under the 
 command of Tristao da Cunha. 
 
 * lil&ydj Hisioire du Commerce ^ **Primo Aug". [1504] tat 
 
 du Levant au Moyen Age, Trans- wir den vertrag mit portugal king 
 
 lated by Furcy Raynaud, Leipzig, der armazion 3 schiff, per In- 
 
 1886, 8vo, vol. ii., p. 530, where diam." — Rem's Diary ^ published 
 
 there is an analysis of that im- hyQfx€\^^vci\\\'SiBriefundBerichte^ 
 
 portant document. p. 8, see infra^ B. 
 
 25 D 
 
The Germans were to furnish three merchant 
 ships. A sum of 66,000 ducats was subscribed, 
 36,600^ in Augsburg and Nuremberg. The 
 Welsers and Voehlin together furnished 20,000, 
 Gossembrot, 3,000, the Fuggers, 4,000, Hoch- 
 stetter, 4,000,^ Hirshvogel, Imhof, and others, 
 the rest of the 36,600. The remaining 29,400 
 ducats were subscribed by a party of Genoese 
 and Florentine capitalists.^ 
 
 These sums, finally, were applied to the expe- 
 dition which Francisco d Almeida led, in 1505, 
 to the African and Indian regions. 
 
 B. 
 
 1505, January 3rd. 
 
 Letter from Conrad Peutinger addressed to 
 Blasius Hdlzl, the Secretary of the Emperor 
 Maximilian, 
 
 In B. Greiff, Brief und Berichte uber diefruhesten Reisen nach 
 Amerika und Ostinden aus den Jahren 1497 bis 1506, aus JDr, 
 Conrad Feutingernachlass^ Augsburg, i86i, 8vo, page 171. 
 
 Peutinger requests Holzl to obtain for his 
 brother-in-law (Christian Welser) from Joao II., 
 through the Emperor, letters patent ('* Brief") 
 for navigating and trading in the Portuguese 
 
 ^ " Sexagies sexies mille aureis, ^ We borrow those figures also 
 
 quos ducatus vocant." — A. F. from Gassarius, ^. <://., col. 1 743. 
 
 GdiSSdixiMS^AugstburgensesAnfialeSj ^ Statement of the Venetian 
 
 in Menckenii Scriptores rerum da Cha' Masser, infra^ G. 
 Germanicarumy Lipsiae, 1728, 
 folio, col. 1736. 
 
 26 
 
possessions. He alleges as a reason: *'vns 
 Augspurgern ains grosz Lob ist, als fur die 
 Ersten Deutschen, die India suechen : — As it 
 is a great glory for our Augsburg people to be 
 the first, among the Germans, who go in search 
 of the Indies." 
 
 We call attention to this curious letter simply 
 as showing the eagerness of the Germans, so 
 far back as the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 to avail themselves of the success of the Portu- 
 guese in the East Indies. As to the date of 
 Peutinger's epistle, if it be exact, we apprehend 
 that it does not apply to Almeida's expedition, 
 as it contains the following sentence : '* Meines 
 schwehers Brief wollen auch vertigen, dan di 
 Schiff zu Portengall schier gen India faren 
 werden : — I beg of you to have the letters patent 
 for my brother-in-law forwarded, as his ships, at 
 present in Portugal, are to sail for India." Now, 
 as the reader will soon see, the German ships 
 for Almeida's expedition sailed out of Antwerp 
 only on January 8th, 1505. As to the text 
 which we published in 1872,^ it was taken from 
 a manuscript copy dated January 13th, 1504. 
 
 ^ Bibliotheca Americana Vetusiissimay Addit.y pp. 1 16-1 17. 
 
 27 
 
c. 
 
 1505, July i2th. 
 
 Pontificium diploma de instauratis Emmanuelis 
 rogatti sacris indulgentiarum prcemiis, Dat, 
 RomcB apud S. Pet rum MDV, iv, id, Julii. 
 
 "Pontifical diploma, renewed at the request of Emanuel, 
 concerning the indulgences for the Holy Land. Dated Rome, 
 at St. Peter, the fourth day of the ides of July [July 12th], 
 1505-" 
 
 In Baronius, Annales ecclesiastici (Mansi's edition, 1754), 
 vol. XXX., pages 453-454- 
 
 When, upon the accession of Julius II. to 
 the Papal chair, Emanuel sent to Rome the 
 customary Embassy of Obedience,* he directed 
 his envoys, Diego de Sousa, Diego Pacheco, 
 and a knight called Haldegna,^ to make a request 
 of the new Pope. They were to beg of His 
 Holiness that as the war in Africa and the ex- 
 pedition of Francisco d'Almeida involved a 
 
 * Obedientia Poteniissitni Etna- Silber is another name for Planck : 
 
 nuelis Lusitanice \\ Regis &*€. per " Silber alias Planck," do we read 
 
 clarissimum Juris. V. consultum || in his Illustrative Notes, p. 56. 
 
 Dieghum PacettU Oratorem ad In other words, according to Mr. 
 
 luliU. II. Pont \Max. Anno Dni. Coote, it seems that Planck, of 
 
 M.D.V. Pridie No. lunii. || Sm. Passau,and Silber, of Wurtzburg, 
 
 4to, 4 11., s. a. a. /., sed 1505, are one and the same printer, — 
 
 Roma^ Silber (Panzer, vol. viii., which we did not suspect before, 
 
 p. 247). Regarding that celebrated ' MS. of Paris de Grassis, 164, 
 
 typographer, it is interesting to fo. 189, quoted by L. Thuasne, 
 
 mention one more discovery of Johannis Burchardi Diarium^ 
 
 the learned English editor of the Paris, 1885, 8vo, vol. iii., p. 392, 
 
 Reyse. It is to the effect that for the names of the ambassadors. 
 
 28 
 
vast expense, he would grant remission of the 
 punishment due their sins to all such persons 
 ** contributing voluntarily maintenance thereof." 
 The Portuguese ambassadors made their ap- 
 pearance at the Vatican in June, 1505, and a 
 month afterwards Julius 11. issued the above 
 papal Bull. 
 
 D. 
 
 1506, June 26th. 
 
 Memoriale de le novelle, che son venule per le 
 quatro nave, che venono de India, e intrarno 
 in Lisbona, veneri a di 2,2. de mazo 1506. 
 
 " Account of the news brought by the four ships, which came 
 from India, and entered Lisbon, Friday, the twenty-second day 
 of May, 1506." 
 
 In Marin Sanuto, Diarij, vol. vi., cols. 363-367. 
 
 " Quatro nave vene tutte molto bene carigate 
 de specie, quanto piii potevano portare : — Four 
 ships which came very heavily laden with spice, 
 as much as they could carry,*' do we read in 
 that account. 
 
 Yet Vincenzo Quirini {jnfra, K.), in his report 
 to the Senate, read a few months afterwards, 
 said that the King of Portugal intended to dis- 
 continue those voyages to the East Indies, 
 as they were very expensive and dangerous. 
 He adds that of 104 ships sent, only 74 had 
 ever returned.^ 
 
 ^ Rawdon Brown, Calendar, October loth, 1506, No. 890. 
 
 29 
 
i5o6, July. 
 
 Copia de nove de Portogal, contenute in una 
 letera, data a presso Lisbona, a di 26 mazo, 
 drizata a sier Francesco Donado, el cavalier^ 
 orator in Spagna, et zonta a Venecia, a di 
 .... luio 1506. 
 
 ** Copy of the news from Portugal in a letter dated from Lisbon, 
 the twenty-sixth day of May, addressed to Mr. Francesco Donado, 
 knight, ambassador in Spain, and which arrived in Venice the 
 .... day of July, 1506." 
 
 In Marin Sanuto, op. a't.y cols. 383-384. 
 
 Mention is also made of four ships, which 
 arrived on the 22nd of May, but the writer adds : 
 ** Ben che se intende che erano numero 5, ma la 
 una se dice esser retornata a Monsanbichi, per 
 esser mal conditionata : — Although it was in- 
 tended that there should be five ships, the 
 report is that one was obliged to return to 
 Mozambique owing to its bad condition.*' 
 
 F. 
 
 1506, November 7th. 
 
 Gesta proxime per PortMgalen\\ses in India : 
 Ethiopia: % aliis orinetalibus [sic] terris}\ — 
 d Inipressum Rome per Joannem Besicken 
 An\\no Mxccccvi, Die, vii, mensis Notiembris.^ 
 
 30 
 
" Recent deeds of the Portuguese in India, Ethiopia, and other 
 eastern countries. — Printed at Rome by Johannes Besicken, on 
 the 7th day of the month of November of the year 1506." 
 
 Small 4to, 4 leaves, b.l. 
 
 IDEM OPUS. 
 
 Gesta proxime per Portugalenses t Jndia, Ethiopia. 1 alijs 
 orietalibus terns. — Impressum colonic Anno dni M.ccccc vij. Prima 
 die mensis Februarij p me Joannem Landen . . . 
 
 4to, 4 leaves, b.l. (Brunet, ii., col. 157 1.) 
 
 IDEM OPUS. 
 
 Francisci de Almada Gesta proxime per Portugalenses in India, 
 Ethiopia et aliis orientalibus terris ab Emanuele Portugalie reges ad 
 Episcopum Portuen. cardinalem Portugal, missa. — Nurenibergce^ 
 per Joannem Weyssenburger^ 1507 : — Francisco de Almada. 
 Recent deeds of the Portuguese in India, Ethiopia and other 
 eastern countries, [relation] sent by Emanuel, King of Portugal, 
 to the Bishop of Porto, Cardinal of Portugal.— Nuremberg,[printed] 
 by Johannes Weyssenburger, 1507. 
 
 4to, 4 leaves. (Ternaux, No. 80.) 
 
 This descriptive letter addressed by King 
 Emanuel of Portugal to the Portuguese Cardinal 
 Alpedrinha (D. Jorge da Costa) is undated, but 
 based upon the information furnished by Fernao 
 Soarez, when he returned to Lisbon on the 
 22nd of May preceding. 
 
 G. 
 
 1504-1506. 
 
 Relazione sopra il commercio dei Portoghesi 
 nell India. 
 
 ** Relation concerning the Commerce of the Portuguese in 
 India." 
 
 In Archivio Storico Italiano^ Appendice, vol. ii., 1845, pp. 
 13-47; but, particularly, ** Viaggio Settimo," pp. 19-21. 
 
 31 
 
The author of this short but valuable histo- 
 rical sketch of the early navigations of the Portu- 
 guese to the East Indies, one Leonardo da Cha' 
 Masser, that is, **dalla casa dei Massari," was a 
 secret agent of the Republic of Venice. He was 
 sent ** privatamente come semplice marcha- 
 dante,*' but in reality to watch and report upon 
 the progress of the Portuguese in India. Da Cha' 
 Masser, or Massari, received his instructions in 
 Venice,^ July 3rd, 1504, and arrived at Lisbon, 
 October 5th following. His report begins as 
 follows : 
 
 ** Essendo stato doi anni continui in Porto- 
 gallo, nella citta di Lisbona per servizio della 
 Subl. V. per veder et intende navegazioni neir 
 
 Indie " It follows that he resided in 
 
 Lisbon continuously until the summer of 1506,* 
 and was a witness therefore of the departure of 
 Almeida's fleet, and of the arrival in Portugal of 
 the first home-bound squadron. He describes 
 nine of these voyages, viz. : 
 
 1497. Vasco da Gama. ^S^3' Francisco "dal Bur- 
 
 1500. ** Pedralboro " (Pedral- chercher" (Albuquerque), 
 varez Cabral). 1504. "Lupo" (Lopo) Soarez. 
 
 1 50 1. Joao da Nova. i5o5« Francisco d' Almeida. 
 
 1502. Vasco da Gama. 1505- " Barbut, abtador da 
 
 Sago " (Cyde Barbudo). 
 1506. Tristao d'Acunha. 
 
 See also his letter of April i6th, 1506.^ 
 
 ^ Commissione a Leonardo da him apply for the " Cancellaria di 
 
 Cha^ Masser, in Cons. X. cum addit. Cologna al dicto povero suppli- 
 
 Specier, in Archivio Veneto^ vol. cante in vita sua " {ibid.). 
 ii. (1871), p. 203. ^ Archivio Veneto, vol. ii., p. 
 
 ^ December 15th, 1506, we see 203. 
 
 32 
 
H. 
 
 150S-1506. 
 
 Viagem e cotisas de D, Francisco Visorey de 
 India escrito na nao S. Raffael do Porto, 
 capita Fernd Suarez. (At the end.) Da 
 wiagemde DomFranciscod' Almeydaprimeyro 
 visorey de India, E este quadernofoy trellado 
 da nao Sd Raffael ^ que hia Hansz Mayr 
 por scrivd da feytoria e capitd Fernd Suarez, 
 
 "Voyage and affairs of Dom Francisco, Viceroy of India, written 
 on board the ship San Rafael, of Porto [of which] Fernao 
 Soarez was captain. — Concerning the voyage of Dom Francisco 
 d' Almeida, first Viceroy of India. And this book was copied 
 from [one in ?] the ship San Rafael, in which Hans Mayr went 
 as factory clerk, and Fernao Soarez as captain." 
 
 From a MS. preserved in the Royal Library at Munich, and 
 analyzed by Schmeller, in his valuable memoir : Ueber Valenti 
 Fernandez AlemcL und seine Sammlung von Nachrichten iiber die 
 Entdeckungen und Besitzungen der Fortugiesen in Africa und Asien 
 bis zumjahre 1508 enthalten in einer portugiesischen Handscrift, 
 pp. 47-50, in vol. iv. of the Abhandlungen der philosophische Fhi- 
 lolog. class der K, Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaffen, for 
 1847. 
 
 This describes the return of the first home- 
 bound squadron sent by Almeida, which ** par- 
 tiron de Cananor caminho de Portugal 2 di de 
 Janeyro de 1506, Fernao Soarez por capita mor 
 de cinco naos be carregadas." Four of these five 
 ships were the '' Sa Jeronimo, Sa Raffael [both 
 German], e Botafogo e a nao India," and they 
 arrived '' a Rastello anno 1506, 22. d. Mayo." It 
 was this squadron which, on its way back to 
 
 33 E 
 
Portugal, discovered, on the nth of February, 
 1506, the east coast of the island of Madagascar. 
 The present description was written origi- 
 nally in German by that Hans Mayr, one of the 
 supercargoes in the employ of the Augsburg 
 merchants. The Portuguese translation, which 
 is the only text that has reached us, was made 
 by the celebrated Moravian, Valentin Fernandez, 
 first a printer, then a notary, in Lisbon, and 
 who returned to Germany after 1507. We are 
 indebted to him for the first printed collection 
 of voyages.* 
 
 I. 
 
 1506. 
 
 Bericht einer Reise vo7n Jahr 1505, unter Fran- 
 ciscus Almeida, Vice-Re. 
 
 "Account of a voyage of the year 1505 under Francisco 
 Almeida, Viceroy." 
 
 In XXVI Jahres Bericht des Hisiorischen Kreis Vereins im 
 R. B. von Schwaben (Greiff's), Augsburg, 1861, 8vo, pp. 167-170. 
 Tlie original is in the handwriting of Anton Welser. 
 
 The commercial details in that account show 
 how profitable those expeditions to the East 
 Indies proved to be, at least to the Augsburg 
 and Nuremberg merchants. Their participation 
 in Almeida's voyage yielded as much as 175 
 per cent, profits, notwithstanding the heavy 
 royalty levied on the proceeds by the King of 
 Portugal. 
 
 * Marco Paulo, Lisbon, 1502, tustissima; Additions yY2s\%\Zi 2 y 
 folio. Biblioiheca Americana Ve- p. 35, note. 
 
 34 
 
J. 
 
 1506, July qth. 
 Journal of Girolamo Priuli, 1 499- 1 5 1 2 . 
 
 In Rinaldo Fulin, Diarii c DiarisH Veneziani^ Studii ; 
 Venezia, 1881, 8vo, p. 201. 
 
 On the authority of a letter from Genoa, Priuli, 
 July 9th, 1506, refers to the **charavelle che 
 gionseno questo Mazo passato, che forono 
 quatro/' which are those of Suarez. He also 
 mentions the news received that **che altre 4 
 charavelle o ver nave erano gionte in Portogallo 
 a li 26 di Zugno, vcnute del viazo de I'lndia, 
 charige di spetie," and describes the cargo. 
 
 K. 
 
 1506, October ioth (?). 
 
 Relazione delle Indie Orientali di Vincenzo 
 Quirini nel 1506. 
 
 In Le Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti al Senato durante il 
 secolo decimosesto, Raccolte ed illustrate da Eugenio Alberi. 
 Appendice. Firenze, 1863, 8vo, pp. 6-19. 
 
 This relation does not mention the voyage of 
 Almeida, but it completes da Cha* Masser's ac- 
 count (supra, G.), by his description of the 
 country visited and conquered in 1505, and of 
 its natural resources. 
 
 35 
 
L. 
 
 1506. 
 
 Relatio Balthasaris Spinger [sic] de maxima 
 sua marina peregrinatione ex partibus Hoi- 
 landice in Ulixbonam Portugallice^ ac deinde 
 per oceanum australe versus polum Antarti- 
 cum [sic] in Indiam^ et ejus insulas, 
 
 "Balthasar Spinger's account of his very extensive maritime 
 peregrination, from the confines of Holland to Lisbon, of Portugal, 
 and then by the Austral Ocean, towards the Antarctic pole, to the 
 Indies and islands thereof." 
 
 In Voyage litteraire de deux religteux Hnkdidins de la Congrega- 
 tion de Saint- Maur ; Paris, 1724, 4to, vol. ii. (Second voyage), 
 pp. 361-378. 
 
 The Latin text of this narrative was dis- 
 covered by the Benedictines, D. Martene and 
 D. Durand, at Lidge in 1718, and published by 
 them six years afterwards **ex manuscripto 
 codice cl. v. domine baronis de Grassier Leo- 
 diensis," in their celebrated Voyage littdraire. 
 
 Their copy, or the manuscript from which 
 they made it, contained a number of mistakes/ 
 This led us to inquire whether the original 
 document could be consulted. Unfortunately 
 we have failed to discover any other Latin text of 
 that relation. The once noted library of Baron 
 
 ^ The geographical names in Enneor for Onor ; Labai de rock 
 
 particular are very erroneously for Angra de rocha, etc., etc. Be- 
 
 rendered : Monsebit and Mon- sides the name of the author, 
 
 simbil for Mosambique; Rostel spelled here "Spinger," instead 
 
 for the Rastello ; Ansedisse for of " Springer " or " Sprenger." 
 Anjediva; Saphalle for Sofala; 
 
 36 
 
Guillaume de Grassier was sold after his death, 
 at Lidge, under the hammer, in 1754. The 
 catalogue of the sale, well known by biblio- 
 graphers under the title of Bibliotheca Cras- 
 sieriana (Leodii, 8vo), does not mention our 
 manuscript. Perhaps it was bound up with 
 others, or too insignificant in size (only a few 
 pages) to be made the object of a separate item. 
 
 Balthazar Sprenger, or Springer, the author 
 of the narrative, was a Tyrolese, from Vils, in 
 the employ of Anton Welser, and who joined 
 the expedition of Francisco d'Almeida as super- 
 cargo, or factor, on board the St. Leonard, one 
 of the three ships fitted out at the expense, as 
 we have said, of the Welsers, Fuggers, Hoch- 
 stetter, Imhof, and other rich merchants of Augs- 
 burg and Nuremberg. She sailed from Antwerp 
 for Lisbon on the 15th of January, 1505, and from 
 the latterplace to theEast Indies, with thefleet,on 
 the 23rd or 25th of March following. Sprenger re- 
 turned to Portugal with the second home-bound 
 squadron, again on the St, Leonard, arriving 
 at Lisbon on the 15th of November, 1506, six 
 months after the first ships sent by Almeida. 
 
 Sprenger kept a daily journal of all the events 
 of which he was an eye-witness in the course of 
 that memorable voyage. Being a German by 
 birth, and writing evidently for ready reference, 
 we assume that this diary was written originally 
 in his mother tongue. He composed, besides, a 
 geographical description of the principal coun- 
 tries visited, viz., Guinea, Delagoa Bay^ Arabia, 
 
 37 
 
the leading cities from Quiloa to Cananor, Great 
 India, and the kingdom of Cochin. Sprenger, 
 upon his return to Germany, embodied those 
 two accounts in a sort of memoir addressed, at 
 their request, to personages whose names have 
 not reached us. These were very probably the 
 wealthy merchants of Augsburg who had em- 
 ployed him, particularly the Welsers. 
 
 Before December, 1508, this interesting narra- 
 tive had been already circulated in Latin, but 
 in manuscript. Perhaps this is the language 
 in which the text newly arranged was composed 
 by Sprenger for his distinguished correspon- 
 dents. It was one of these new arrangements, 
 in Latin, or in German (we cannot tell which), 
 that served for the Flemish version printed by 
 Doesborch, and already mentioned. 
 
 In the present text, the preamble is as follows : 
 
 ** Ego Balthazar Spinger {sic) of friends, and my own mental 
 
 inductusprecibusamicorumsimul satisfaction, to the effect that 
 
 & animi mei attractus delecta- others may also derive pleasure 
 
 tione, ut alii quoque in his capiant from things which tend to the 
 
 delicias,qu3e vergunt in Christianse diffusion of the Christian religion, 
 
 fidei incrementum, nequaquam I was unwilling to pass over in 
 
 silentio praeterire volui maximam silence thegreat peregrination and 
 
 peregrinationem & viam maris, sea voyage which we have accom- 
 
 qua classibus oceanum sulcantes, plished. This was from the coasts 
 
 ex Hollandise partibus ad civi- of Holland to the royal city of 
 
 tatem regalem Ulixbonam regni the kingdom of Lisbon, plowing 
 
 Portugalliae, ac deinde per multa the waves with our fleets. Tra- 
 
 regna insulas & marina pericula versing then numerous kingdoms, 
 
 in Indise provinciam Calcoet islands and dangers of the sea, we 
 
 pervenimus, ac in patriam tan- reached the province of Calicut 
 
 dem redivimus: — I, Balthazar in India; and afterwards returned 
 
 Spinger (wV), having been to our native land." 
 prompted both by the requests 
 
 38 
 
Sprenger then begins his narrative with the 
 following interesting details : 
 
 " Anno igitur domini MDVII. " In the year of our Lord 1507 
 
 {sic) solventes ab Ulixbona Lusi- («V), weighing anchor from Lisbon 
 
 taniae, simul cum classibus inclyti in Portugal, at the same time as 
 
 regis Emanuelis & spectabilium the fleets of the illustrious King 
 
 mercatorum nationis Teutonicae, Emanuel, and of the honourable 
 
 qui dicuntur vulgariter Fuckerde merchants of the German nation, 
 
 Velserem Hoegstederem Hirsvoge- commonly called Fugger, Welser, 
 
 lent sociorumque eorum vigesima Hochstetter, Hyrssfogel, and their 
 
 quinta die Martii pervenimus in companions, on March 25th we 
 
 insulam Canariam, quae distat cen- arrived at the Canary island, which 
 
 tum quinquaginta milliaribus ab is distant from Lisbon 150 miles 
 Ulixbona." 
 
 We notice in this extract two slips of the pen, 
 viz., the first, *' MDVII," corrected further on 
 as follows: **anni scilicet 1505: — in that year 
 1505 ; " the second, **vigesima quinta die Martii," 
 which, without commas intervening, may be in- 
 terpreted as the date of their arrival at the Canary 
 islands, instead of **Vicesima octava die Martii : — 
 the twenty-eighth day of March," which is the 
 date correctly set forth in the next page. As the 
 reader will soon see, the fleets left Lisbon for 
 the Rastello on the 23rd, remained two days in 
 that place, and then sailed out on the 25th of 
 March. 
 
 The narrative continues, giving a detailed 
 account of all the important events which occurred 
 during the first part of that memorable voyage, 
 with dates and certain particulars not to be found 
 in other relations of Almeida's expedition, or in 
 Doesborch's translation of Sprenger's account. 
 We propose to examine a number of these in the 
 
 39 
 
next item, where a comparison is established 
 between this Latin version and the Flemish one 
 already referred to. Meanwhile, as Osorius 
 copies Castanheda, while Castanheda copies 
 Correa,^ who wrote fifteen years before him, all 
 without scarcely ever dating the facts which they 
 relate, we will state the dates of the leading 
 circumstances that happened during the first 
 year of Almeida's expedition. 
 
 The Portuguese anchored before Quiloa on 
 July 23rd, 1505; attacked the city, with eight 
 ships, on the 24th, and on the 27th, Almeida 
 crowned a new king (Mafamede Arcon) in the 
 place of the one who had fled away. 
 
 On August 13th, 1505, they came into the 
 harbour of Mombasa, with ten ships, attacked 
 the city on the 14th, and stormed it on the 15th. 
 
 On October i8th, 1505, they reached Onor 
 with eighteen boats, stormed it immediately, and 
 sailed away to Cananor the same day. 
 
 On October 30th the Portuguese arrived at 
 Cochin, and between November 2nd and a few 
 days afterwards, *' aliquot diebus," Almeida 
 crowned the king of that region with the golden 
 crown which he had brought from Portugal. 
 
 The Grassier manuscript contained at least 
 one illustration. It represented Arabian mer- 
 chants exchanging woollen and silk clothes for 
 gold. The reference to the drawing or minia- 
 ture in question is in these words : ** Ut in figura 
 « 
 
 ^ Caspar Correa, Lendas da Lima Felner. Lisboa, 1859, 4to, 
 India.. Edited by Mr. R. J. de vol. i., part ii., pp. 520-619. 
 
 40 
 
tali habentur depict! :— As they are represented 
 in the delineation."^ 
 
 M. 
 
 1508. 
 Plates designed by Hans Burgkmair, 
 
 Although Sprenger's account circulated at an 
 early date in manuscript, it was in the form of 
 engravings that he may be said to have first 
 called the attention of the public to his adven- 
 tures in Africa and the East Indies. He fur- 
 nished data to Hans Burgkmair, the celebrated 
 Augsburg artist, who designed and published, 
 in 1508, a large plate composed of four or five 
 sheets, pasted together, and forming a whole, 
 which measured in breadth one metre ninety 
 centimetres, in height twenty-six centimetres. 
 
 That fine engraving represents groups of 
 natives in various attitudes, such as they had 
 been seen by Balthazar Sprenger in those distant 
 regions. Beginning on the left of the reader — 
 Group 1st: . IN . gennea, negroes, a child 
 dancing, a man holding three spears, a woman 
 with child at the breast, seated close to a tree. 
 Group 2nd : in . allago, a bearded man, and a 
 woman, both seated, their feet in sandals, with 
 large, round soles (to walk on the sand), a child, 
 and a tree. Group 3rd: .in . Arabia, a man 
 
 r 
 
 * That scene is not in any of Burgkmair's plates now known. 
 
 41 F 
 
richly clad, a woman partially dressed, holding 
 a child by the hand, close to a tree. Group 4th : 
 GROS . INDIA ., a half-naked woman with a parrot 
 resting on her left hand, a child dancing, and, as 
 coming out of his mouth, the word mamane ; 
 two women seated look at him ; back of them, a 
 large oval buckler. Group 5th: no title; a tree 
 with a monkey gambolling among the branches; 
 young girl holding a basket ; a man caressing 
 his wife; three other women, goats, sheep, an 
 ox, a half-naked fat man, and a man seated, his 
 left leg resting on a buckler. Group 6th : der 
 KVNiG VON GVTZiN ; the King of Cochin is seated 
 on a sort of plank, carried by four men, and 
 surrounded by thirteen others, one bearing a 
 large parasol, the rest, arms and musical instru- 
 ments, some blowing trumpets.^ On a small 
 tablet, hanging from a tree, the date 1508, and 
 the initials of the engraver H. B.^ 
 
 * In the Welser copy (the only B. 26 (Gravures en hots des anciens 
 one we know of in its original maitres allemands ; Gotha, 1808, 
 form) all the personages have folio), which we assume to repre- 
 been coloured, apparently by sent the other half. For addi- 
 hand, and at the time. That is tional details concerning that 
 also the case with the woodcuts in plate we are under obligations to 
 the book described infra (0.). Mr. von Wirshingen, President 
 
 * Our description of the first of the Historischen Vereins von 
 groups is taken from a large frag- Schwaben und Neuburg^ and to 
 ment of what we believe to be Dr. Adolf Buff, State archivist 
 the left part of the original plate in Augsburg. See also the Zeit- 
 of 1508, in the possession of schrift of that society, 2d Jahr- 
 Baron Carl von Welser, at Ram- gang, 1875, p. 123 ; Bartsch, Le 
 hof, who has kindly supplied us Peintre-graveur^^'\QXiXit^\Zo2t-2iy 
 with a tracing made by himself, vol. vii., No. 7 7 ; and Passavant, 
 The other groups we have bor- LePeintre-graveiir^l^Qi^zx^, 1^62, 
 rowed from Derschau's facsimile, vol. iii., p. 267. 
 
 42 
 
On the left upper corner, the arms of Balthazar 
 Sprenger, engraved, but coloured by hand, viz. : 
 Over a coupd gules and azure a greyhound argent 
 rampant, issuing from a ground sinople. Under- 
 neath there is the following inscription : 
 
 " Dise nach volgenden figuren purg : — The following represen- 
 
 des wandels vnnd gebrauchs der tations of the [mode of] life and 
 
 kunigreich mit hilffe des almech- customs of the kingdoms which 
 
 tigengots,Vonkiiniglicherwiirde, were visited, discovered, and 
 
 Emanuel zu Portugal besucht, partly conquered, by His Royal 
 
 gefunden von zum tail bestriten, Highness Emanuel of Portugal, 
 
 auch mit teutscher nacion nam- with the aid of God almighty, and 
 
 haffiger kaufleut, der Fucker, ofnoted merchants of the German 
 
 Welser, Hochstetter, Hirschfogel nation, Fucker, Welser, Hoch- 
 
 der im Hof vnd andern, desich, stetter, Hirschfogel, and others, 
 
 Balthasar Springer [«<:] vo Fylss [of all this] I, Balthasar Springer, 
 
 als ain bestetter von wegen der from Vils, sent by [or agent of] 
 
 Welser zu Augspurg mich auf the Welsers of Augsburg, have 
 
 soliche schiffung vnd solichs had knowledge by sailing and ex- 
 
 erfam vnd selbs angeben hab, perience, and gave it myself to be 
 
 zum truck e, wie hie geschen printed, such as is seen here :— 
 
 wirtt : — H. Burgkmair zu Augs- H. Burgkmair, of Augsburg." ^ 
 
 There exist separate copies of the first four 
 groups, but they are only sheets which had not 
 been pasted together, and became separated in 
 the course of time. One of these, in allago, is 
 mentioned by Bartsch.^ The triumph of the 
 King of Cochin is also found by itself, but on a 
 much reduced scale. Judging from its Latin 
 
 title, TRIVMPHVS REGIS GOSCT SIVE GVTSCMIN, 
 
 and the date of 1509, it may be only the double- 
 
 ^ The plate contains several «V., vol. iii., p. 267; and Muther, 
 
 other inscriptions. Die Deutsche Bucher illustrat. 
 
 ^ Bartsch, op. cit.^ vol. vii., der Gothik und Frichrenaissance ; 
 
 p. 222, No. 75 ; Passavant, op, Munich, 1888, p. 131, No. 859. 
 
 43 
 
folded plate inserted at the end of the work, 
 described infra (O.). 
 
 In 1509, it seems, George Glockendon, of 
 Nuremberg, made a facsimile of that large en- 
 graving, and added his own name in the left 
 lower corner, after removing the initials of 
 Burgkmair from the tablet.^ This, at all events, 
 was republished in 151 1, but with the latter 
 date, which in the previous edition, Derschau 
 says, was in movable type. The issue of 151 1 
 (and, we suppose, also the alleged one of 1509) 
 contained a long inscription in Gothic letters, 
 which is as follows : 
 
 "Dise nachuolgende figuren. 
 des wandels vnd gebra-||uchs der 
 kunigreich. mit hilff des almech- 
 tigen go- II tes. von koniglicher wird 
 zu-||portegal besucht. gefunden 
 vnd zum tavl bestritten vnd hat 
 Balteser springer \sic\ von tiltz 
 \sic\ durch semselbs wackuus vnd 
 erfaren wider vnd voljnewen. vnnd 
 
 gantz||recht in diser form zu 
 bringen ang-jjeben. vnnd derhalb 
 gelaub und warhafft vnderri||cht 
 gethann. vnnd damit das. so vor 
 in seine namen||gedruckt worden 
 oder hinfur anderst dan vie herin 
 be-||griife vnzusehe ist. gedruckt 
 wurde domit dy selbeabgelait."|| " 
 
 The meaning of that entangled phraseology 
 is about as follows : 
 
 "The following representations 
 of the [mode of] life, and cus- 
 toms of the kingdoms visited, 
 found and partly conquered with 
 the aid of God almighty, and of 
 His Royal Highness of Por- 
 
 tugal, and repeatedly ascertained 
 through the personal daring of 
 Balthasar Springer \sic\ of Tiltz 
 \sic pro Fillz = VilsJ have been 
 furnished by himself to be repro- 
 duced anew under this form, and 
 
 * De Derschau, op. cit.^ p. 4, of 
 the second part, which, under No. 
 26, gives a very remarkable fac- 
 simile of the complete plate of 
 1511. In the model which served 
 
 him, however, for that facsimile, 
 one of the groups on the left was 
 not pasted in its proper place. 
 
 ' This inscription is borrowed 
 from Derschau's facsimile, B. 26. 
 
 44 
 
very exactly. In this wise he has and in what shall be printed later 
 
 set forth a true and reliable ac- on, such as is herein contained 
 
 count, [both] in what has been and can be seen ; thereby testify- 
 
 printed previously under his name, ing [to the truth thereof ?] ." 
 
 In that statement, the use of the third person 
 when speaking of Sprenger, and the omission of 
 Burgkmair's name and initials, indicate a coun- 
 terfeit. It is worthy of notice, however, that in 
 Glockendon's plate the groups are not reversed, 
 although the inscriptions, lettering, and slight 
 differences in certain details show that he has 
 re-engraved Burgkmair's plate entirely. The 
 artistic skill displayed on this occasion is re- 
 markable.^ 
 
 N. 
 
 1508, December. 
 
 Die reyse vd Lissebone om te var^ na dj eylddt\\ 
 Naguaria in groot Indien gheleghen\voor bi 
 Callicuten eii Gutscht dair^dye stapel is van 
 
 ^ We have failed to find, either led by two natives, and three men 
 
 in Paris, London, Berlin, Augs- on foot. (Kindly communicated 
 
 burg, Vienna, or Nuremberg, by Mr. Ed. Chmelarz.) As Baron 
 
 originals of the 1508, 1509, or von Welser's fragment is pasted 
 
 15 1 1 edition of Burgkmair's plate, on pasteboard, while neither 
 
 The only original which came to Bartsch nor Derschau indicate 
 
 our notice is the left half of the their authorities, we are unable 
 
 1508 edition above mentioned, to state whether there was any 
 
 The Engraving Department of water-mark in the papers used 
 
 the Imperial Library at Vienna by Burgkmair and Glockendon 
 
 possesses an enlarged copy (256 originally. This is to be regretted, 
 
 X 350 mm.), but of a later period, considering that Derschau's fac- 
 
 of the portion of the group Gross similes (which are devoid of 
 
 India representing, in the back- water-marks) frequently sell as 
 
 ground, a camel and an elephant originals. 
 
 45 
 
der speceri^WDaer ons wonder lijcke dt\\gi! wed' - 
 uaren zij. endair\\wy veel ghesie heb\M, als 
 hier na\\ghescreM\\staet.\\iVelcke reyse ge^ 
 schiede\\door d^ wille en ghebode des alder\ 
 . doorluchtichst^ Cons vd Portegals Emanuel^ 
 (At the end) Gheprent Thantwerpen . . By 
 my\Jan van Doesborch. Intiaer\\M,D.viij, 
 t December\ 
 
 " The Voyage from Lisbon to sail unto the island of Nagore 
 which lieth in Great India, beyond Calicut and Cochin, wherein 
 is the staple of the spices. Wondrous things befell us therein, and 
 we beheld much, as hereinafter is described. This said voyage 
 was undertaken by the will and command of Emanuel, the most 
 serene King of Portugal. (Colophon) Printed at Antwerp. By 
 me Jan van Doesborch. In December of the year 1508." * 
 
 •#* Small 4to, twelve unnumbered leaves, B.L., eight woodcuts, 
 one of which is a duplicate. The latter figures on the tide-page, and 
 is entitled gennea ; the second, in . allago ; the third, in : Arabia ; 
 the fourth, meior : india ; the fifth, Vd Gutschin dat conicryckj the 
 sixth, Aldus wort die Con. t. Gutschin somtijts ghedraghS van sijne 
 hooftlycden. The other plates are without inscription. At the end, 
 the large printer's mark of Jan van Doesborch, with the motto : 
 TvSiQi atavTov — Know thyself. 
 
 Woodcuts one,^ two, three, and four are rough reductions of the 
 first four groups of Burgkmair described in the preceding item M, but 
 abridged and reversed. The sixth woodcut (two men with bow and 
 buckler fighting) is Doesborch's own, not to be found among any of 
 Burgkmair's plates. The last woodcut in the book is a reprint of the 
 one added by J. van Doesborch * to his edition of a version into 
 Flemish of Vespuccius' third voyage, published shortly before, with 
 the same printer's mark.^ He used those titled woodcuts again 
 (except the last), in the work : Of the newe lands and of ye people founde 
 
 ^ This woodcut, which Does- Nijhoff, we believe) for 1,000 
 
 borch gives in duplicate, has been florins, and seems to be the copy 
 
 reproduced in Gilhofer and now in the Carter-Brown Library, 
 
 Rauschburg's Vienna catalogue, at Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 No. 38, when, in 1892, they ^ Reproduced by Frederick 
 
 offered a copy of the present MuUer, Catalogue of Books on 
 
 Flemish jReyse for 1,200 florins. America ; Amst., 1872, No. 24. 
 
 This was afterwards purchased ' Bibliotheca Americana Vetus- 
 
 by an Amsterdam bookseller (Mr. tissima, Additions^ No. 15. 
 
 46 
 
by the messengers of the kynge of portyngale named Emanuel^ printed 
 more than ten years afterwards/ 
 
 It must be said that in the opinion of Mr. Vanderhaegen it is not 
 known when Jan van Doesborch commenced to print. On the other 
 hand, the Rev. Edward Arber inserts ^ the following remark from Dr. 
 Campbell : " John of Doesborch did not print till after 1 508, because 
 in that year, he entered the Guild of St. Lucas at Antwerp, as verlich- 
 tere^ miniature painter." But as the present tract is dated " December, 
 1508," there is no reason for rejecting, a priori^ the later date, simply 
 in consequence of the above-mentioned e;itry in the Guild. Withal, our 
 opinion is that the date of "December 1508" is also spurious ; but, 
 thus far, it can only be a supposition. 
 
 This is the publication edited by Mr. Goote, 
 and criticised in the preceding pages (15-21). As 
 to the text, it is only a garbled translation, made 
 we do not know by whom, or at whose instiga- 
 tion, of Balthazar Sprenger's above-mentioned 
 original narrative (L.). The plagiarist has sub- 
 stituted for the preamble which we have repro- 
 duced {supra, on page 38), the following : 
 
 "Mijn vrient Lauerenti Ick " My friend Lorenzo : — lAlbe- 
 
 Albericus hebbe in voor screue ricus did write to you aforetime 
 
 tijde ghescreue tot v van mijn d' about my voyages to the new 
 
 reysen va de nyeuwe lade int lands in general; now I am writing 
 
 generael, nv scriue ic v die waer- to you a true account thereof 
 
 heyt daer af va stucke te stucke." from point to point." 
 
 This introduction we have shown to have 
 never been written by Americus Vespuccius. 
 Nor did the Flemish editor translate entirely the 
 text which he had before his eyes. Some por- 
 tions have been abridged, such for instance as 
 the chapters relating to Guinea, Mombasa, and 
 Great India, but without omitting the leading 
 facts. To show the identity of the two texts, 
 
 ^ Arber, The First Three English Books on America, pp. xxviii-ix. 
 
 47 
 
we now place side by side the first paragraph 
 and the last in both. 
 
 " Ex industria igitur regis Por- "Welcke reyse gheschyeden 
 
 tugalliae Emanuelis pro expedi- doer dat beuel des alder doer- 
 
 tione Indica et navigatione, prse- luchtichsten coninck van Porten- 
 
 paratis classibus, gale Emanuel geheeten Inden 
 
 yrsten so vooren wi van Lisse- 
 
 bone met groter armmeyen 
 
 Cum magna totten colester Rostel een mile 
 
 igitur armonia musicorum, instru- van der stadt. Ender opden xxv. 
 
 mentorum et fiducia descendentes dach van meerte als wi te zeile 
 
 in continenti, terra pervenimus ad ghingen so quam daer eenen visch 
 
 monasterium Rosiel^ quod uno wter zee in die hauene wel twee 
 
 millario distat ab Ulixbonae portu. mans lengde groot seer swart ende 
 
 Ubi mansimus duobus diebus, gruwelijc dye vederen hadde op 
 
 scilicet \ xxiii. die utque ad xxv. sinen rugghe die bina so langhe 
 
 Martii, quae fuit illius anni scilicet waren als een man Daer na 
 
 1505 ... . quamen wi opten xxvi. dach van 
 
 Postquam igitur \ monasterio meerte op die zee van Portugale 
 
 Rostel discessimus, & ventorum ende daer quamen vele visschen 
 
 flatibus carbasa commisimus, wt der zee neuen die scepen 
 
 venit ad naves ex oceano Portu- gheuaren. Dese voerscreuen 
 
 galensi piscis quidam ignotus, toto swarte visch blies dat watere in 
 
 corpore niger & terribilis, longi- die lucht hooge wel enes mans 
 
 " By the care of the King of " This voyage was undertaken 
 
 Portugal Emanuel, a fleet was by the command of Emanuel the 
 
 fitted out for the expedition and most serene King of Portugal, 
 
 navigation to India. . . . With a We first journeyed from Lisbon 
 
 large band of musicians and with a great company unto the 
 
 [their] instruments, we hopefully monastery of Rastello, one mile 
 
 went down by the mainland to from the town, 
 
 the monastery of Rostel, one And on the twenty-fifth day of 
 
 mile from the port of Lisbon. March, when we set sail, there 
 
 We remained there two days, came out of the sea into the har- 
 
 from the 23rd to the 25 th of bour a fish of the length of two 
 
 March, in that year 1505 .... men, exceeding black and terrible. 
 
 After we had left the monastery having fins on its back nearly as 
 
 of Rostel, and confided our sails long as a man. After this, on the 
 
 to the winds, there came out of twenty-sixth day . . , we came into 
 
 the Portuguese Ocean towards the sea of Portugal, and many 
 
 our ships, a certain unknown fish, fishes from the sea followed 
 
 black all over and terrible, of the alongside the ships. The afore- 
 
 48 
 
tudine xii. vel amplius pedum, 
 qui habebat alas longitudinis sex 
 pedum. Hie piscis coUecto in se 
 aere postquam se undis immersit, 
 evomuit aquam in altum vi spiii- 
 tus ad longitudinem virilis men- 
 surae. Vicesimo [sic] igitur die 
 Martii venerunt juxta naves multi 
 pisces & varii, qui naves seque- 
 bantur longius. Vicesimo sep- 
 timo etiam die jaculo tormenti 
 ceperunt nautse belluam marinam 
 magnitudine virilis staturae. Haec 
 habebat corpus obesum & testi- 
 culos ut porcus, similiter intes- 
 tina. Os vero habebat ut agnus, 
 sed latius, & in mandibulis parvos 
 dentes. Hujus came cibavimus 
 uno die 126 homines Vicesimo 
 octavo die Martii per noctem 
 navigevimus inter duas insulas, 
 quae ab invicem distant Ix. mil- 
 length of twelve feet, or more, 
 with wings [fins ?] six feet long. 
 That fish, after aspiring air within 
 it, dipped into the waves, and 
 blew water into the air as high as 
 a man's length, by the force of its 
 breath. On the twentieth day 
 [s/c] of March many and various 
 fishes from the sea followed along- 
 side the ships for a long distance. 
 On the twenty-seventh day [of 
 March] the crew took, by throw- 
 ing a harpoon, a sea animal of the 
 size of a man, with a very fat 
 body, and organs like a boar, and 
 entrails of similar kind. The head 
 resembled that of a lamb, but 
 broader, and with small teeth in 
 the jaws. One hundred and twenty- 
 six men eat of its flesh during 
 one day. On the twenty-eighth 
 day of March we sailed by night 
 
 lengde die wt die Portugaelesche 
 zee quam in die hauene van Lisse- 
 bone. Item op den xxvij. dach 
 van meerte so scoten die scip- 
 lieden in die zee eenen thonijn 
 die also lanck was als een man 
 Ende hadde also veel visch aen 
 als een vercken of swijn ende had- 
 de cullen gelijc een swijn ende 
 speck ende vleesch ende inghe- 
 want oft darmen oec alsoe Ende 
 eenen beck ghelijc eenen vogel 
 mer een luttel breeder, ende cleyn 
 tanden daer in Met desen visch 
 spijsde men eenen dach hondert 
 ende xxvi. personen Op den xxviij 
 dach van Meerte des snachts 
 voerenwi tusschen twee Eylanden 
 die van malckanderen staen ses- 
 tich mylen. Dye eene hier af 
 heet Canaria Die andere Illama- 
 dera Ende hier sijn vele swartte 
 
 said black fish, which blew the 
 water into the air as high as a 
 man's length, came from the sea 
 of Portugal into the harbour of 
 Lisbon. Item, on the twenty- 
 seventh day of March the crew 
 shot a tunny in the sea ; it was as 
 long as a man, and had as much 
 flesh upon it as a pig or boar, and 
 had organs like a boar, and it had 
 likewise blubber and flesh, and 
 entrails or bowels of similar kind, 
 and a beak like a bird, but a little 
 broader and with small teeth 
 therein. This fish provided food 
 for one day for an hundred and 
 twenty -six persons. On the 
 twenty-eighth day of March we 
 sailed by night between two 
 islands lying sixty miles apart ; 
 one is called Canary and the other 
 Madeira, and therein there be 
 
 49 
 
liaribus, quarum una dicitur 
 Canaria, distans ab Ulixbona 
 clxxx. milliaribus, altera Ilia 
 Madera distans ab ea ccl. mil- 
 liaribus." 
 
 between two islands lying sixty 
 miles apart ; one is called Canary 
 and the other Madeira, distant 
 from Lisbon, the one an hundred 
 and eighty miles, the other two 
 hundred and fifty miles." 
 
 menschen oft mooren innen Beyde 
 dese Eylanden sijn van Lysse- 
 bone. die eene hondert ende 
 tachtentich mile, die andere twee 
 hondert ende vijftich milen." ^ 
 
 many black men or Moors. These 
 two islands are distant from Lis- 
 bon the one an hundred and 
 eighty miles, the other two hun- 
 dred and fifty miles." * 
 
 The Latin and Flemish versions end both as 
 follows : 
 
 ** Octavo die Septembris post- 
 quam a prsedictis insulis navigavi- 
 mus Ix. milliaribus, rejecit nos ad 
 easdem ventus contrarius, ibique 
 deficiente pane, dabantur cuilibet 
 quotidie in victum tantum sex 
 unciae panis. Consilio igitur ex 
 necessitate habito, decimo tertio 
 die iterum venimus ad insulam 
 S. Jacobi, ubi comparavimus pro 
 navi carnes, risi, & milium pro 
 navi & aquam dulcem .xx. die 
 iterum navigantes tendimus ver- 
 sus Portugaliam, & tunc coeperunt 
 plures ex nostris febricitare quar- 
 tana. Primo enim Octobris die 
 habuimus in navi nostra xx. viros 
 segrotos, quorum tres morieban- 
 tur. Navigavimus igitur usque 
 in xxi. diem Octobris, & tunc ap- 
 proprinquare ccepimus ad insulam 
 Illamaderam, ubi xxii. die jactis 
 anchoris mansimus xii diebus pro- 
 videntes navi de vino & pane, 
 prout necessarium erat. Tertio 
 
 " Op den viij. dach septem- 
 bris, waren wi van teylanden 
 gheuaren Ix. milen ende doen 
 quam daer eenen storm die ons 
 wederon dreef tot op die eylanden 
 ende doen en hadden wi nyet meer 
 broets int scip. want men gaf ons 
 des daechs nyet meet dan vi. 
 vncen broots Ende wi namen raet 
 om te lopen na sint Jacobs ey- 
 lant, daer wi quamen opden xiij. 
 dach septembris Daer cochten 
 wi rijsch ende vleesch ende millye 
 saet voor tscip ende namen ooc 
 water in Op den xx. dach ghingen 
 wi weder te seyle na Portengale 
 ende doen werter veel van onsen 
 volcke sieck, ende hoe laugher 
 hoe meer van die quarteyn ofte 
 vierde cortsen, Opden yrsten 
 dach Octobris, waren in ons scip 
 XX. mannen sieck daer dye iij. af 
 storuen, Doen seylden wy totten 
 xxi. dach Octobris, doen saghen 
 wi lUamadere, Opden xxij. dach 
 
 ^ We have spelled out all the 
 words of the Flemish text. 
 
 ' Mrs. Barwick's translation 
 from the Flemish, p. 18. 
 
 50 
 
die Novembris rursus navigare 
 coepimus usque in xii. diem & 
 tunc vidimus montem S. Vmcentii 
 distantem ab Ulixbona xxxv. mil- 
 liaribus, k quo discedentes in 
 directum xv. die Novembris tan- 
 dem Ulixbonse portum in travi- 
 mus." 
 
 "On the eighth day of Sep- 
 tember we had gone sixty miles 
 from the islands, when head 
 winds drove us back again to 
 the islands, and then, as we had 
 no more bread, we received daily 
 as food six ounces of bread each. 
 And we took counsel together 
 regarding the plight in which we 
 were, and ran to the island of 
 Santiago again, where we arrived 
 on the thirteenth day of Septem- 
 ber, and bought meat, rice, and 
 millet for the ship, and did also 
 take water. On the twentieth 
 day, sailing again, we steered 
 towards Portugal, and then seve- 
 ral of our people fell sick in our 
 ship, of the quartan fever. In 
 fact, on the first day of October, 
 twenty men were sick in our ship, 
 and three of them died. Then 
 we continued to sail until the 
 twenty-first day of October, when 
 we commenced approaching the 
 island of Madeira, where, having 
 cast anchor on the twenty-second 
 day, we lay twelve days, victual- 
 ling the ship with the necessary 
 wine and bread. On the third 
 
 worpen wi ons anckeren daer wt 
 ende laghen daer totten iij. dach 
 Nouembris / Daer na ghinghen 
 wy weder te seyle na Portengale 
 Ende spijsden daer ons scip met 
 broot ende wijn, Opden xij. dach 
 saghen wi weder landt den Caben 
 oft berch van sinte Vincent/ Ende 
 waren doen van Lissebone xxxv. 
 milen, Ende van daer seylden wi 
 recht wt totten xv. dach Nouem- 
 bris, ende setten doen anckeren 
 voor die stadt van Lissebone 
 Inden name gods. . . ." 
 
 "On the eighth day of Sep- 
 tember we had gone sixty miles 
 from the islands when a tempest 
 arose which drove us back again 
 to the islands, and then we had 
 no more bread in the ship, for 
 we received daily no more than 
 six ounces of bread. And we 
 took counsel together to run to 
 the island of Santiago, where we 
 arrived on the thirteenth day of 
 September. There we bought 
 rice and meat and millet for the 
 ship, and did also take in water. 
 On the twentieth day we set sail 
 again for Portugal, and then many 
 of our people fell sick, and more 
 and more as time went on, of the 
 quartan or four days fever. On 
 the first day of October twenty 
 men were sick in our ship, and 
 three of them died. Then we 
 continued to sail until the twenty- 
 first day of October, when we saw 
 Madeira. On the twenty-second 
 day we cast anchor and lay there 
 until the third day of November. 
 After that we set sail again for 
 Portugal, having victualled our 
 ship there with bread and wine. 
 
 51 
 
clay of November we resumed 
 the navigation until the twelfth 
 day, when we descried at a dis- 
 tance of thirty-five miles Mount 
 St. Vincent, Thence sailing in a 
 straight line, we, at last, on the 
 fifteenth day of November, en- 
 tered the port of Lisbon." 
 
 On the twelfth day we descried 
 land, the Cape or mountain of 
 Saint Vincent, and we were then 
 thirty-five miles from Lisbon. 
 And from thence we sailed straight 
 away until the fifteenth day of 
 November, and cast anchor before 
 the town of Lisbon. In the name 
 of God. . . ."1 
 
 In many places the Flemish text is only a 
 contracted version of the original, omitting 
 dates. But a number of important passages 
 have been taken out and out from the genuine 
 narrative of Sprenger, and translated almost 
 literally. Here is an instance : 
 
 SPRENGER. 
 
 " Ultima igitur die Maii navi- 
 gamus cum duabus navibus ver- 
 sus montem Cabe^ id est bonae 
 spei.^ Nam capitaneus supremus, 
 amissis duabus anchoris a nobis 
 separatus, necesse habuit in 
 oceanum excurrere, quo eum ven- 
 tus ferebat, quern postquam inve- 
 nimus, prsecepit nobis ut secum 
 omnes rediremus ad Monsebit. 
 Tempestas enim venti cogebat 
 nos retrorsum, quod in anteriora 
 tendere nequivimus. 
 
 Second© die Junii, consilio 
 habito, nitebamur redire ad 
 patriam, & non ad Monsebit ; sed 
 saeviente nimia acris commotione, 
 praecepit nobis iterum supremus 
 capitaneus, sub interminatione 
 
 DOESBORCH. 
 
 " Iten op den lesten dach Junij 
 ghenghen wi weden te seyle naden 
 Caben Ende ons ouerste hooft- 
 manliet daer ij. ankeren also dat 
 hi in diezce mo ste lopen daerwy 
 hen wed' vonden. ende de wit wert 
 so groot dat wi weder achterwerts 
 mosten lopen na Monsenbic, ende 
 dat gheboot ons hooftmante 
 doene. 
 
 Doen hielden wi raet dat wy 
 varen wilden na Portengale ende 
 niet na Monsenbic/Maer mits den 
 groten storm mosten wi darwaerts 
 lopen/Ende doen geboot ons 
 opperste hooftman onsen hooft- 
 man den Piloet open lijf ende 
 goet dat si van hen niet seylen 
 souden anders dan tot Monsebic. 
 
 ^ Mrs. Barwick's translation 
 from the Flemish, p. 45. 
 
 ^ That is evidently a gloss of 
 the Benedictine copyist, such as 
 
 we find several in their Latin text, 
 as, for instance : " Gallice Cabe 
 de bona speranza dicitur," and 
 '' Cabe de bonne speranze." 
 
 52 
 
vitae, & omnium bonorum nostro- 
 rum ne discederemus ab eo ten- 
 dente ad Monsebit. Tunc nau- 
 clerus noster alta voce inclama- 
 bat : Misericordia, rogando ut se 
 converteret ad reditum patriae, 
 alioquin navis nostra nobiscum 
 periret : quia in ea non habuimus 
 panem, nisi ad tres menses : si 
 autem ad Monsebit nos redire 
 cogeret, fames nos perderet. Eo 
 igitur die discedentes k duabus 
 navibus sociorum contra ventum 
 navigantes tendimus versus Cabe." 
 
 " On the last day of May, we 
 set sail with two caravels for 
 Mount Cape, which is the Cape 
 of Good Hope. Our chief cap- 
 tain having lost two anchors, he 
 became separated from us, and 
 was compelled to wander on the 
 ocean, wherever the wind carried 
 him. After we had found him 
 again, he commanded all of us to 
 go with him to Mozambique. 
 But as there was a violent storm 
 raging, which pushed us back, we 
 could make no headway. 
 
 On the second day of June, 
 after taking counsel, we en- 
 deavoured to return home, in- 
 stead of going to Mozambique. 
 But [although] the storm was 
 greatly increasing, the chief cap- 
 tain repeated his command that 
 at the peril of our lives and entire 
 property we should not part with 
 him going to Mozambique. But 
 then our pilot cried with loud 
 voice, Misericordia, and prayed 
 him to let us return to our country, 
 else we would be lost with the 
 ship, for there was but bread 
 enough for three months, and 
 
 Mer doen riep de factoer ende 
 dar volck met ghemeynden sten 
 men Misericordieende baden hen 
 om gods wille dat hi hen sonde 
 keeren na Portengale om scip 
 ende volck te behouden. Want 
 int scip niet meer braets en was 
 dan voor iij. maenden Ende 
 haddenwigueuarenna Monsenbic 
 wy hadden al van honger ghes- 
 toruen ende scyp ende goet ver- 
 loren. Daer na keerden wions 
 scip weden na Caben de spe- 
 ranse." 
 
 " On the last day of June {sic) 
 we set sail again for the Cape; 
 our chief captain lost two anchors 
 there, so that he was compelled 
 to run out to sea, where we found 
 him again. But the wind became 
 so violent that we were obliged to 
 run back to Mozambique, and our 
 captain commanded us to do so. 
 
 Hereupon we took counsel that 
 we should sail to Portugal and 
 not to Mozambique, but because 
 of the great storm we were con- 
 strained to run thither, and then 
 our chief captain gave command 
 to our captain the pilot, that at 
 the peril of his life and property 
 they should not sail away from 
 them anywhere else save to Mo- 
 zambique .... 
 
 But then the steward and the 
 crew cried with one voice Miseri- 
 cordia, and prayed him for God's 
 sake to return to Portugal, so as 
 to save the ship and the crew, for 
 in the ship there was but bread 
 enough for three months. And 
 
 53 
 
that if we pursued our course to if we had pursued our course to 
 
 Mozambique, we would all die of Mozambique we should all have 
 
 hunger. On that very day, then, died of hunger, and have lost our 
 
 parting with the two caravels of ship and goods. So we turned 
 
 our companions, and sailing our ships again towards the Cape 
 
 against the wind, we steered of Good Hope." ^ 
 towards the Cape." 
 
 What interested us particularly was to ascer- 
 tain how far south Almeida's ships had gone 
 after passing the latitude of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and if the statement of Castanheda that 
 they went 175 leagues beyond was exact. But 
 when comparing Sprenger's original text with 
 van Doesborch's version, we found that they 
 are precisely alike, viz. : 
 
 " Navigantes igitur per vastum 
 istud oceanum, reliquimus mon- 
 tem Cabe k latere ccc. milliari- 
 bus, ut compendosius in Indiam 
 tenderemus. Verumtamen longe 
 per multa centenaria milliariorum 
 oceanicam viam legentes, nes- 
 civimus prorsus ubi essemus. 
 Cumque adhuc nescientes ubi 
 essemus, longius evageremur, 
 tandem venimus ad locum ubi 
 paulatim apparuerunt nobis cete 
 grandia & immensa multa, sed & 
 belluae maris plures, & monstra 
 oceani valde longa & terribilia. 
 Excurrimus autem k monte Cabe 
 XV. hebdomadibus, quod nullam 
 omnino vidimus terram, sed tan- 
 tum coelum & aquam. 
 
 Quinta decima vero hebdoma- 
 da, die scilicet xix. Julii apparue- 
 runt navigantibus nobis adhuc 
 multi pisces. Paulo post scilicet 
 
 " Daer voeren wy op dien tijt 
 diepe inder zee om in Indein te 
 varene Ende wi en quamen biden 
 berch Caben niet op drie hon- 
 dert milen Ende also voeren wi 
 langhen tijt dat wy niet en wisten 
 waer dat wi waren tot my menich 
 hondert milen gepasseert waren 
 Daer na voeren wi noch langhen 
 tijt niet wetende waer dat wi 
 waren dat wi ten lesten saghen 
 vele thoninen ende walvisschen 
 die seer groot ende wter maten 
 lanck waren ende noch ander 
 gruwelike visschen die seer land 
 ende final waren Wi spelden van- 
 den berch Caboweerde wel xv. 
 weken dat wi noch lant noch 
 sant en saghen Daer na inder 
 vijftienster weken opten .xix. dach 
 vande maent Julius saghen wi 
 vele visschen Ende niet langhe 
 daer na omteret twee vren saghen 
 
 Mrs. Barwick's translation from the Flemish, p. 38. 
 
 54 
 
wi dat lant tusschen Safaly ende 
 Monsimbic." 
 
 in spatio duarum horarum habui- 
 mus in aspectu nostro terram 
 inter Saphalle & Monsunbiiy 
 
 "Navigating then across that 
 vast ocean, we went 300 miles 
 away from Mount Cape, in order 
 to journey quicker into India. 
 We sailed nevertheless for a long 
 time, several hundreds of miles 
 on the ocean, without knowing 
 at all where we were. And as 
 we were thus wandering afar, we 
 at last reached a place where we 
 beheld large whales, some of 
 immense size, also several marine 
 animals, and monsters of the 
 ocean, exceeding large and ter- 
 rible. We sailed from Mount 
 Cape for fifteen weeks, without 
 seeing any land, only the sky 
 and sea. In the fifteenth week, 
 on the nineteenth day of July, 
 to us, who were sailing, appeared 
 fishes in abundance, and not long 
 afterwards, that is, in about two 
 hours, we descried the land be- 
 tween Sofala and Mozambique." 
 
 On the other hand, Doesborch skips over 
 various important incidents and dates, among 
 others, from April 14th until May 19th, including 
 the terrific storm, which he dismisses with the 
 sentence, *' and we endured many storms and 
 much distress," whilst the Latin devotes not 
 less than twenty-two lines to that event. We 
 also see that he omits the grave accident that 
 happened to the ship on board of which was 
 the author of the narrative, viz. : 
 
 "At this time we sailed far out 
 to sea in order to journey into 
 India, and we did not come 
 within three hundred miles of 
 the promontory, and we sailed 
 for so long a time that we knew 
 not where we were until at last 
 we beheld many tunnies and 
 whales which were exceeding 
 large and long beyond measure, 
 and other horrible fishes likewise 
 very long and narrow. We sailed 
 from Cape Verd for full fifteen 
 weeks without seeing either land 
 or shore, but afterwards, in the 
 fifteenth week, on the nineteenth 
 day of the month of July, we 
 beheld fishes in abundance, and 
 not long afterwards, in about two 
 hours, we descried the land be- 
 tween Sofala and Mozambique." ^ 
 
 ^ Mrs. Barwick's translation from the Flemish, p. 
 
 55 
 
 25- 
 
*' Decima octava die August! k 
 portu nobis navigantibus evenit 
 pereclitari navem in qua ego eram 
 quae Leonart dicebatur. Nam ex 
 sociis navibus una fregit nobis 
 gubernaculum, & sic ventus quo 
 volebatgubernaculo carentes fere- 
 bat, donee tandem impulit iterum 
 juxta prsedictum fortalicium super 
 fabulum. Amissis ergo sociis 
 navibus, in magna desolatione 
 fuimus. Auxiliante tamen Do- 
 mino mane sequentis diei salicet 
 xix Augusti arrepti a vento jacti 
 fuimus juxta civitatem, sed hos- 
 pitati & adjuti ab alii navibus 
 quae nobis succurrebant, fecimus 
 quantocius novum gubernacu- 
 lum : — August 1 8th, while sailing 
 out of the harbour, it happened 
 
 that the caravel, on which I was, 
 and called Leonard, stood in 
 danger. For one of the caravels 
 which accompanied us [ran foul 
 of us] and broke our helm. Thus 
 did the wind carry us wherever it 
 pleased, owing to our being de- 
 prived of helm ; until, finally, it 
 took us again near the fort, on 
 the beach. Having lost [sight 
 of] the caravels that were with 
 us, we felt great grief. But with 
 the aid of God, on the following 
 morning, that is, on the nine- 
 teenth day of August, the wind 
 drove us near the city, where we 
 were hospitably received, and 
 with the help of the other caravels 
 which came to our aid, we quickly 
 constructed another helm." 
 
 He likewise omits the following entry, which 
 is a sequel of the preceding : 
 
 '* Vicesima quarta die Augusti 
 [1505] coeptum praecedentis diei 
 iter prosequentes, sustinuimus 
 periculum. Nam quaedam navis 
 iterum in nostram illata, unam 
 ex nostrae anchorae alis fregit. A 
 quam cum difficultate divisi et 
 eruti, tandem quarto die in mag- 
 num mare Mechae civitatis perve- 
 nimus, Melindam a latere relin- 
 quentes : — On the twenty-fourth 
 day of August, while pursuing the 
 
 route undertaken the day before, 
 we experienced a great danger. 
 For a certain caravel again ran 
 foul of us, and broke one of the 
 arms of our anchor. In conse- 
 quence of that accident, we were 
 separated [from the other ships] 
 and sheered off. At last, on the 
 fourth day, we reached the great 
 sea of the city of Mecca, leaving 
 Melinda on one side [?]." 
 
 It is worthy of notice that these omissions 
 generally bear upon what might be called per- 
 sonal details. The reason is evidently to efface 
 all data which might lead to a detection of the 
 original narrative. For instance, in the first 
 
 56 
 
omitted passage, there was the pTirase: *' in qua 
 ego eram quae Leonart dicebatur: — I was in 
 the [ship] called Leonart," which could bring 
 about the apprehended identification. 
 
 In the entry of November 2nd, 1505, the 
 Latin text is as follows : I 
 
 " Die secunda quatuor naves day we commenced loading witH 
 pipere coepimus onerare, quae pepper four ships, which were^he 
 dictae sunt Raphael, Leonart, Raphael^ Leonart^ Judced!s ship^ 
 Judae, Conceptionis Mariae, qua- and the Conception of Mary\ 
 rum tres oneratae raigraverunt three of which [when they had 
 in reditu versus Cananor. Nos their cargo] steered away back 
 tamen cum nostra nave S. Leo- to Cananor. We, however, witli 
 «^r^/V mansimus aliquot diebus our own ship, the St. Leonard^ re- 
 in Gutschim : — On the second mained a few days at Gutschim." 
 
 Doesborch (page 36) only says : 
 
 "On the second day of No- were laden we sailed awaj to 
 vember we began to load four Cananor, the Leonard remaming 
 ships with pepper, and when three behind," 
 
 The phrase : " Habuimus nos Teutones tres 
 naves : — We, the Germans^ had three ships,'' 
 is altered by the Antwerp translator (page 31) 
 into : *' Die duytsche coopluyden hadden daer 
 drie schepen " : — *' The Dutch merchants had 
 three ships there," which is altogether untrue.'' 
 
 Finally, Doesborch does not fail to set aside 
 the passage in the original account which shows 
 
 * Those italics are ours. or its equivalent, into Flemish, 
 
 * " Duytsche " means, above would not have used the expres- 
 all, " Dutch," but sometimes also sion " duytsche," preferring " die 
 " German." An Antwerp writer, van Almaengen," to avoid confur 
 however, translating from the sion. Besides, the suppression 
 Latin, or German, in the six- by Doesborch of the word " We," 
 teenth century, the word TeutoneSy betrays the deceit. 
 
 57 H 
 
that it IS not a letter from ** Albericus '* to *' my 
 friend Lorenzo," but a report written and ad- 
 dressed by Balthazar Sprenger to certain distin- 
 guished personages, whom we believe to have 
 belonged to the syndicate of Augsburg and 
 Nuremberg merchants who equipped the three 
 German ships of Almeida's expedition, viz. : 
 
 "Superius succincti (sic) & 
 superficialiter viam peregrina- 
 tionis nostrae proposuimus magis 
 quam exposuimus, sed quoniam 
 descendentes mare in navibus, & 
 facientes operationem in aquis 
 multis, vidimus opera Domini & 
 mirabilia ejus in profondo, me- 
 mores illius quod dicit Ecclesias- 
 tici 43. qui navigat, mare enarrat 
 pericula ejus. . . . Ammonemur 
 vobis dilecti domini singula ple- 
 nius exponere, ut sciatis, quibus 
 diebus, in quibus insulis, & regio- 
 nibus, fuerimus, quae mirabilia in 
 singulis viderimus, quae pericula 
 incurrimus, quantumque in cunc- 
 tis antea negatum oceanum vento 
 impellente excurrimus." 
 
 " We have indicated summarily 
 and superficially,^ rather than de- 
 scribed, the itinerary of our navi- 
 gation. But, as we have sailed in 
 our caravels, and carried our sails 
 in numerous seas, we saw the 
 works of the Lord, and his mar- 
 vels in the deep, recollecting the 
 words of the wise in Ecclesiastes 
 xliii. (26) : *Let them that sail on 
 the sea, tell the dangers thereof. 
 . . .' We propose, Dear Lords, 
 to relate all things more in detail, 
 so that you may know at what 
 dates, in what islands and regions 
 we have gone, the strange things 
 which we saw in each of them, 
 the dangers we have experienced, 
 and how long we tarried there 
 owing to the calms." 
 
 As to the cosmographical paragraph at the end 
 of the Flemish print, it is only an abridgment 
 
 * Sprenger alludes to the geo- 
 graphical description which he 
 has just given. In the text pub- 
 lished by the Benedictines, the 
 above extract is followed by this 
 sentence : "Ific pleniorem facit 
 narrationem de mirabilibus visis : 
 ' — Here, he [/.<?., Sprenger] makes 
 a more detailed narrative of the 
 
 58 
 
 things worthy of admiration which 
 he has seen." We do not know 
 whether that statement, which 
 here is given in the third person, 
 whilst the preamble and the nar- 
 rative itself are constantly in the 
 first, or in its plural, belongs to 
 the original, or is a gloss of the 
 copyists of the Grassier MS. 
 
of the termination of the original account of 
 Vespuccius' third voyage. This was taken out 
 of Jan van Doesborch's own Flemish version 
 and edition of that (this time authentic) Ves- 
 puccian narrative, published at Antwerp not 
 long before the Reyse, and with the same type 
 and concluding woodcut. 
 
 That similitude between these two Antwerp 
 publications forces upon us the conviction that 
 van Doesborch was privy to the deception prac- 
 tised on the public, by attributing the narrative 
 of Sprenger to Vespuccius. At that time the 
 name of the Florentine navigator had eclipsed 
 that of Columbus himself, and acquired such 
 popularity, that not less than twenty-three edi- 
 tions, in Latin and German, of his third voyage, 
 had been printed in three or four years at Paris, 
 Strasburg, Augsburg, Leipzig, Nuremberg, and 
 even at Antwerp (in Latin) by Henry Eckert/ 
 The name of Vespuccius, although given in an 
 abridged form, could not fail to attract the at- 
 tention of the reading public, and ensure a 
 ready sale. In fact, van Doesborch had like- 
 wise mentioned the Florentine and his corre- 
 spondent only by their Christian names in his 
 Flemish version of the third voyage, viz. : ** Lau- 
 renti goede vrient In voorleeden daghen heb ic 
 Albericus v gescreuen : — My good friend Lo- 
 renzo, I Albericus, did write to you aforetime,'' 
 exactly as in the Reyse, which, we must pre- 
 
 ^ For and with the mark of Americana VetusHssiina^ No. 29, 
 William Vorsterman. Bibliotheca pp. 72, 73. 
 
 59 
 
^ume, was considered sufficient at Antwerp in 
 those days.^ 
 
 The Latin manuscript, copied by the Benedic- 
 tines, is now lost. It seems to have been date- 
 less. On the other hand, Sprenger's German 
 edition (which we will describe further on) bears 
 the date of 1509, while van Doesborch's Flemish 
 version is dated '' In December of the year 1508." 
 Superficial observers may be tempted therefore 
 to ask whether it was not Sprenger who plagia- 
 rized ** Albericus," instead of the reverse. 
 
 In reply, we must recall the fact that Vespuc- 
 cius is noi the party who accompanied Almeida 
 in the voyage described in the Flemish pamphlet; 
 and that his name in the latter print is a sheer 
 interpolation. ** Fallacia alia aliam trudit: — One 
 deception makes way for another," says Teren- 
 tius. In the present instance, the subsidiary 
 consequence was to alter the date of '* 1505 '' into 
 '* 1500," and rob thereby the real author of his 
 dues. This, naturally, imparts at the outset a 
 suspicious look to the whole perforrtiance. We 
 then notice that the Latin is much more com- 
 plete than the Flemish. Besides, as we have 
 already said, a number of omissions refer to 
 
 * Bibliotheca Americ. Vetusty bookseller Pierre Kockx, in a 
 
 Additamenta^ No. 15. For a fac- bundle of old printed matter, 
 
 simile of the woodcut at the end, lying on the ground, in the mud, 
 
 and of the above quoted words, and purchased by him for one 
 
 see Fred. Miiller's Catalogue of franc, with the rest. It was bought 
 
 Books on Americay No. 24. As at public sale for 700 francs by 
 
 to that unique and valuable Ame- Mr. Miiller, who resold it to Mr. 
 
 ricanum, it was discovered in the Carter Brown, in whose library it 
 
 Friday Market at Antwerp by the is still preserved. 
 
 60 
 
particular data, which were calculated to disclose 
 the true name of the writer, then yet living, and 
 evidently known personally in Antwerp. Just 
 as it was within the knowledge of citizens of the 
 place that Hans Mayr had made the voyage in 
 the Saint Rafael^ certain persons must have 
 also been aware in that port (where the German 
 squadron was equipped, less than three years 
 before) that Sprenger had joined the expedition 
 of Almeida in the Saint Leonard, At all events, 
 the dates and specific details duly set forth in 
 the Latin text, and replaced by blanks in the 
 Flemish, alone would suffice to prove that the 
 latter is not the original. 
 
 The name of Balthazar Sprenger must 
 stand as the sole writer, in its authentic form, of 
 that interesting narrative. 
 
 O. 
 
 1509. 
 
 Dje Merfart vn erfarung niiwer\Schiffung vnd 
 Wege zu viln onerkanten Inseln vnd Kil\ 
 nigreichen, von dem groszmechtigen Portu- 
 galiscM Kunig Emanuel\Erforscht, fundeny 
 bestritten vnnd Ingenomen.Auch wunderbar-\ 
 liche Streyty ordenung, leben wesen handlung 
 vnd wunderwercke^des volcks vnd Thyrer dar 
 
 ^ The 6'«/«/ 7?^^^/ hailed from for and at the cost of the asso- 
 Porto, but formed part of the ciation of Augsburg and Nurem- 
 squadron fitted out in Antwerp berg merchants. 
 
 61 
 
In wonendey findestu in diessein buchlyn^war- 
 haftiglich beschryben vn abkunterfeyt, wie ich 
 Balthasar Spr^\ger sollichs selbs: in kurtz- 
 uerschyn^ zeiten: geschen vn erfaren habe 
 <S'^. II (Woodcut) Gedrvckt\Anno. M.DJX,\\ 
 (At the end of the hook) ^m' Die Merfart 
 Balthaser (sic) Sprengers in einer Sum geoffen- 
 bart\hat hie ir end erlangt Im iar noch Chris- 
 tus geburt. i. 5. o. 9.II 
 
 " The Sea Voyage, new navigation and ascertained route towards 
 many unknown Islands and Kingdoms of the Mighty Portuguese 
 King Emanuel, explored, found, warred against and conquered. 
 Also, the astonishing fights, organization, life, customs and 
 wonderful works of the people of Thyre thou wilt find in this little 
 book, truly described and reproduced, such as I, myself, Balthasar 
 Sprenger, have seen and ascertained, etc. Printed in the year 
 1509." (At the end of the book) "The sea voyage of Balthaser 
 Sprenger, related uninterruptedly, reached here its termination. 
 In the year of the birth of Christ 1509." 
 
 *5ic* Small 4to, sine loco {sed Augsburg ?), printed in small Gehnan 
 B.L., without printer's name or mark. For water-mark, a pitcher. 
 Fourteen unnumbered leaves, including the title-page ; and, at the 
 end, a double leaf folded, for a large woodcut only. 
 
 Leaf 1st, recto, the title above given, beginning with a line in larger 
 type, and long ornamented D. In the middle of the page, the arms of 
 Maximilian, supported by a large single-headed sable eagle ; verso, a 
 coat-of-arms filling the entire page, and bearing, on top, B. S. (Balthazar 
 Sprenger).' Leaf 2nd, text on both sides. Leaf 3rd, recto, a savage in 
 warlike attitude, and the word Geneaj verso, a woman with two 
 children, and the word Gennea. Leaf 4th, recto, text ; verso, a fruit- 
 bearing tree. Leaf 5th, recto, text ; verso, a man and child. Leaf 6th, 
 recto, woman with child at the breast ; verso, text. Leaf 7th, recto, 
 the tree repeated ; verso, text. Leaf 8th, recto, man clad from head 
 to foot ; verso, woman and child. Leaf 9th, text on both sides. 
 
 ^ See in front of our title-page to Burgkmair's large 1508 plate, 
 a facsimile of those arms, which, now in the possession of the de- 
 in the book, are coloured by scendant of Sprenger's employer, 
 hand, viz. coupe of or and gules. Baron Carl vonWelser, viz., coupd 
 But we have coloured our repro- of gules and azure, which we con- 
 duction from the colours in the sider more authentic than the 
 coat-of-arms added at the time colours in the book. 
 
 62 
 
Leaf loth, recto, text ; verso, man wearing a turban, half naked, and 
 the words, India . Maior. Leaf nth, recto, a half-naked woman with 
 hair dishevelled ; verso, text. Leaf 12th, recto, text ; verso, man with 
 sword and buckler, and the words, India . Maior. Leaf 13th, recto, 
 man with bow and arrow ; verso, text. Leaf 14th, text on both sides. 
 The double leaf is a woodcut, 26 x 20 c., of the King of Cochin, borne 
 on a palanquin, surrounded by soldiers, musicians, and attendants, 
 copied, greatly reduced and somewhat modified, from Hans Burgk- 
 mair's large plate of 1508 (Derschau, B. 25). Here, there are two in- 
 scriptions, viz. : Der Triumph des Kunigs von Gutschin mit seinen 
 spieleuten vnd .... (the rest has been cut off by the binder), and 
 
 TRIVMPHVS REGIS GOSCT SIVE GVTSCMIN .1 H S., with the date 1509. 
 
 All those plates are very rough, and, with the exception of the last, 
 not to be found anywhere else. They are certainly not the work of 
 Hans Burgkmair, and have all been coloured by hand. 
 
 The only known copy of that interesting and valuable book is pre- 
 served in the Royal and State Bavarian Library at Munich (// sing. 
 4to, 330/11). 
 
 To place his account within the reach of the 
 reading public in Germany, goaded on perhaps 
 by the Antwerp piratical version, Sprenger pre- 
 pared, himself, for the press, apparently at Augs- 
 burg, an edition of his own original narrative, 
 and in the German language. It is the present. 
 
 We notice, in this, important changes, not in 
 the text, so far as it goes, but in the arrange- 
 ment. Thus, a portion of the geographical 
 part is inserted within the text of the narrative 
 whilst the rest is placed at the end of the book, 
 instead of at the beginning, as we see it both in 
 the Grassier manuscript and in the Flemish 
 version of the original account. Sprenger has 
 consequently omitted the introductory remarks 
 with which the geographical description was 
 prefixed, but without connecting it with the nar- 
 rative proper by means of a title or explanation. 
 
 The order of events and descriptions in this 
 German text tally exactly with the Latin, 
 
 63 
 
although a few passages have been curtailed 
 somewhat, while several dates and names are 
 different. The preamble differs also in some 
 respects from the one in the Grassier manu- 
 script. It is as follows : 
 
 "In the name of the holy in- 
 divisible Trinity: God the father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
 Amen; who have created and 
 regulated all things : Heaven, the 
 Earth, and the Deep Abysses, 
 and without whom no good be- 
 ginning, middle, and blessed end 
 can be reached, I, Balthazar 
 Sprenger, from Vilss, with their 
 grace and aid, will [set forth] 
 the wonderful, newly discovered 
 Countries, Kingdoms, Islands 
 and regions, with all the men, 
 animals, and growing fruits 
 therein, such as I have found 
 them together with other emis- 
 saries of the high and mighty 
 King of Portugal, called Emanuel, 
 and of the excellent merchants 
 
 "In dem namen der heiligen 
 onteilbarlichen Triualtigkeyt Got 
 Vaters Sons vnnd Heiligen Geist 
 Amen, Durch den alle ding 
 Hymel Erde vnd die tyeffe ab- 
 grunde geschaffen vnd ordinirt 
 sein, vnd on welchen keyn guter 
 anfang, mittel noch selig ende 
 ereycht werden mage, Wil ich 
 Balthasar Sprenger von Fylsz mit 
 genade vn hylffe der selben die 
 wunderbarlichen new erfunden 
 lande, Kunig, reich Inseln vnd 
 gegene mit sampt yren inwo- 
 nenden menschen, Thyren vnd 
 wachssenden Fruchte, wie ich die 
 in waszer vnnd vff lande: mit 
 andern geschickten des Grosz- 
 mechtigen Kunigs zu Portugal : 
 Emanuel genant: vnd der Fur- 
 treffen Kaufherre der Fucker, 
 Welszer, Hochstetter, Hyrszfogel, 
 deren im Kofe vnd anderer yrer 
 geselschafften, erstritten vnd mit 
 macht helffen betzwinge : erfaren 
 vnd gesehen habe, im anfag des 
 Jars Christi vnsers herren geburt 
 Funftzehenhundert vn Funff." 
 
 Fucker, Welser, Hochstetter, 
 Hyrszfogel, Court people [?] and 
 others of their company, and with 
 whom, by fighting and by force 
 [I] helped to conquer, visited and 
 saw, in the beginning of the year 
 of the birth of Christ our Lord, 
 Fifteen Hundred and Five." 
 
 To complete our demonstration, there remains 
 to ^ive Sprenger's own German text of the 
 begmning and end of his narrative.^ By com- 
 
 ^ The reader will find a notice 
 of Sprenger's voyage, as described 
 
 in the German version, in Dr. 
 Friedrich Kunstmann's very able 
 
 64 
 
paring these two passages with the Latin trans- 
 lation and sophisticated Flemish version already 
 set forth in the preceding pages/ the reader will 
 see the original source of that interesting and 
 reliable account of one of the greatest events in 
 the colonial history of Portugal. 
 
 BEGINNING OF NARRATIVE. 
 
 (2nd leaf, recto.) 
 "Vnd noch vnser zuschickug 
 im ingag des Schifs vnd anfarens, 
 Kam ein wunderbarlicher grau- 
 samlicher Fisch bey Rostal vsz 
 dem hohen Mere in Hafen (das 
 ist in die pfordt oder staden des 
 Meres : do man ynschifft, anfert, 
 vnd vszledt) der was in der grosz 
 eins iungen knaben vmb xvij. 
 iare alt, bech schwartz vnd hat 
 allein vif seinez ruck fisch federn 
 Er bliesz erschr6ckenlich das mer 
 iiber mans hoche in die lufft Vnd 
 in schnellem hynsegeln erreichte 
 wir die Cost zd Portugal vff den 
 xxvi. tag des Mertzen, vff welchen 
 tag vmb vnser schiff in vnd bey 
 den hafen der angezeigten fisch 
 
 paper, Die Fahrt der ersien 
 Deutschen nach dem portugiesischen 
 Indien^ Munich, 1861, 8vo (which 
 came to our notice only when the 
 present work had been written). 
 
 We beg to express here our best 
 thanks to Dr. von Laubmann, the 
 learned and obliging director of 
 the Bavarian Royal Library at 
 Munich, who not only at our re- 
 quest supplied us with long ex- 
 tracts, and a minute description 
 of Sprenger's Merfart, but had 
 
 onzalber vil erschynen vnd zusch- 
 wummen. Vnd vff den andern 
 tag der do wz des xxvij. des 
 Mertzen Schossen die Schiffleut 
 ein onbekanten seltzamen Fisch 
 in der Cost im Spange Sehe, 
 den sie ein Dutschin nanten der 
 was foUigklich eins mans langk 
 gleicher gestalt einem Schwein 
 das ongeuerlich fyer guldin bei 
 vns werdt, vnd het der fisch : als 
 eyn Eber am hyndern teil feins 
 leibs : ein grosz geschrdd, vnd 
 vorn an seynem mund ein Schna- 
 bel geleich eim Fogel doch einer 
 breitern form, vnd in seinez maul 
 vil kleiner scharpffer zene, Mit 
 diessem fisch wurden gespeiszt 
 in einem tag Hundert vnd sechsz- 
 
 the liberality to send us, in Paris, 
 the priceless book itself for our 
 inspection and study. 
 
 We are also under great obli- 
 gations to our friend. Max Hell- 
 man, Esq., who, while at Munich, 
 kindly made a summary of the 
 German pamphlet, which proved 
 of great service to solve this little 
 bibliographical and historical pro- 
 blem. 
 
 ^ Supra^ in chapter N, pp. 48- 
 52. 
 
 65 I 
 
undtzwentzig mensche, do von 
 ich selber gessen vnd gespeiszt 
 worden bin. 
 
 (2nd leaf, verso.) 
 VfF Freitag noch Vnser lieben 
 frawen verkundung tag, der do 
 was vff den Achtundtzwentzigsten 
 tage des Monatz Mertzen, Do 
 furen wir zfi nacht mit vnsern 
 
 schifife zwischen zweie Inseln 
 hyn : vri leit dye ein von der an- 
 dern Sechtzig meilen, vnd fecht 
 sich do an der Moren landt : vnd 
 heist die ein Canaria vnd leit 
 hundert vii achtzig meylen von 
 Lisibon, die ander Ilamander : 
 die selb leit hundert vnd funft- 
 zig meiln vo Lisibon, . . ." 
 
 END OF NARRATIVE. 
 
 (13th leaf, verso.) 
 "Vf den viij. tag septembris 
 waren wir von den inseln 60. 
 meilen, da quam ein sturm windt 
 vnnd treib vns wider hyndersich 
 vf die inseln, vnd hetten wir nit 
 mer brot im schiff man gabe vnser 
 einem tags nit mer daii vi. vntz 
 brot zu essen. wir wurden ym 
 schyff zu rat das wir widerumb 
 noher der inseln sant Jacobs 
 lauffen wolten, vnd kamen vfF 
 den viij. tag Septembris do hyn 
 vii kauften Reisz vii fleisch vnd 
 mille in die schyff vnd namen 
 wasser. Am xx. tag septenbris 
 gingen wir wyder zfi sayl noch 
 Portugal, vii bald dornoch ward 
 
 (14th leaf, recto.) 
 etlich tag vii volcks kranck vii fur 
 vnd fur ye lenger ye mere. Am 
 Fie sier kentura vf den erste tag 
 Octobris waren xx. mail ym schiff 
 
 krack vnd sturben die zeit hyn 
 123. person. Da saylte wir bisz 
 vf den xxi. tag Octobris da sahen 
 wir Ylle maday, Vf den xxij. tag 
 Octobris satzte wir ancker vsz 
 vnd lagen da bisz vf den driten 
 tag Nouembris Da gin gen wir 
 wyder zfi sayle noch Portugal, 
 vnnd speiszten vor hyn vnser 
 schiff mit wein vnd brot zym- 
 licher weysz. Vf den xij. tag 
 Nouenbris da sahen wir wider- 
 umb land, das was der kabe zu 
 sant Vincentz, vnd waren wir der 
 zeit von Lysibon 35. meiln Da 
 saylten wir lang s lanhyn bysz vf 
 den XV. tag Nouenbris vnd satzte 
 Sncker vor die stat Lysibon, vnd 
 hatten do mit diesse Reysz in 
 dem namen gottes volnbracht 
 vnd geendet, Dem sey Ere vnd 
 glory ymmer vnd ewigkliche 
 Amen." 
 
 That is the rare book which deserved the 
 honour of a facsimile reprint and a scholarly- 
 translation into English, instead of the incom- 
 plete, garbled, and piratical Flemish pamphlet. 
 Unfortunately, Balthazar Sprenger failed to 
 mention Americus Vespuccius and his friend 
 
 66 
 
Lorenzo, in any form or shape whatever ! It 
 is a pity. Had only the honest Tyrolese pos- 
 sessed the lynx eyes of the astute savant who 
 can see his hero both in the sun and in the 
 moon exactly at the same time, he might have 
 also found, several centuries afterwards, a 
 fanciful editor to hold him forth as an incom- 
 parable genius. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 67 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR: 
 
 BiBLiOTHECA Barlowiana. Ncw York, 1864; small 8vo (Privately 
 printed, four copies only). 
 
 Letters of Christopher Columbus describing his First 
 Voyage to the Western Hemisphere. Texts and Trans- 
 lations. New York, 1865; folio, with facsimiles (Privately 
 printed, ten copies only). 
 
 Notes on Columbus. New York, 1866 ; folio, with plates (Privately 
 printed). 
 
 BiBLIOTHECA AMERICANA VeTUSTISSIMA. A DESCRIPTION OF WORKS 
 
 relating to America published between the years 1491 
 AND 1551. New York, 1866; 4to, and large 8vo, with facsimiles. 
 
 D. Fernando Colon, Historiador de su Padre; Ensayo 
 Critico. Seville, 187 1; 4to. 
 
 BiBLIOTHECA AMERICANA Vetustissima. ADDITIONS. Paris, 1872 ; 
 4to, and large 8vo, with facsimiles. 
 
 Notes pour servir a l'histoire, a la bibliographie et a la 
 
 CARTOGRAPHIE DE LA NoUVELLE FrANCE ET DES PAYS ADJA- 
 
 cents, 1545-1700. Paris, 1872; 8vo. 
 Introduccion de LA Imprenta en America, con una Biblio- 
 
 GRAFIA DE LAS OBRAS IMPRESAS EN AQUEL HEMISFERIO DESDE 
 
 1540 A 1600. Madrid, 1872 ; 8vo. 
 
 Fern AND Colomb, sa vie, ses ceuvres. Essai critique. Paris, 
 1872; large 8vo. 
 
 Les Colombo de France et dTtalie, fameux marins du xv^ 
 siecle; 1461-1491. D'apres des documents nouveaux ou inedits 
 tires des archives de Milan, de Paris et de Venise. Memoire 
 lu k TAcademie des inscriptions et belles-lettres dans ses seances 
 des i^"" et 15 mai 1874. Paris, 1874; 4to. 
 
 L'HiSTOiRE DE Christophe Colomb attribute a son fils 
 Fern AND. Examen critique. Paris, 1875 ; 8vo. (Separate 
 issue of articles in the Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie.) 
 
 Le Voyage de Verrazzano (Critical review of the work of the 
 Hon. Henry C. Murphy, with new documents, in the Revue 
 Critique). Paris, 1876; 8vo. 
 
 Los Restos de Don Cristoval Colon. Disquisicion. Seville, 
 1878; small 4to. 
 
 69 
 
Les Si^:pultures de Christophe Colomr. Revue critique du 
 
 PREMIER RAPPORT OFFICIEL PUBLI6 SUR CE SUJET. Paris, 1 879 ; 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Jean et S^bastien Cabot, leur origine et leurs voyages. 
 Etude d'histoire critique, suivie d'une cartographie, d'une 
 bibliographie et d'une chronologie des voyages au Nord- 
 Ouest, de 1497 A 1559. D'apres des documents inedits. Paris, 
 1882 ; large 8vo, with facsimile of the North American section of 
 the Cabotian planisphere of 1544. 
 
 Christophe Colomb et la Corse. Observations sur un d]^cret 
 RECENT DU gouvernement francais. Paris, 1883; 8vo. 
 
 Les Corte-Real et leurs voyages au Nouveau- Monde. D'aprbs 
 des documents nouveaux ou peu connus tir^s des archives de 
 Lisbonne et de Modene, suivi du texte inedit d'un r^cit de la 
 troisi^me expedition de Caspar Corte-Real et d'une importante 
 carte nautique portugaise de Tann^e 1502, reproduite ici pour la 
 premiere fois. Memoire lu k I'Acad^mie des inscriptions et 
 belles-lettres dans sa stance du i^' juin 1883. Paris, 1883; 
 large 8vo, with facsimile of the American section of the Cantino 
 planisphere, folded in a case. 
 
 Caspar Corte-Real. La date exacte de sa DERNikRE expi^- 
 dition au Nouveau-Monde. D'apres des documents inedits 
 r^cemment tir^s des archives de la Torre do Tombo k Lisbonne. 
 Paris, 1883 ; large 8vo, with facsimiles. 
 
 Christophe Colomb, son origine, sa vie, ses voyages, sa famille 
 et ses descendants. D'aprbs des documents inedits tires des 
 archives de Genes, de Savone, de Seville et de Madrid. Etudes 
 d'histoire critique. Paris, 1884; 2 thick volumes large 8vo, with 
 map, plates and numerous genealogical tables. 
 
 L'Origine de Christophe Colomb. Demonstration critique et 
 documentaire. Paris, 1885 ; 8vo. 
 
 Grandeur et di^cadence de la Colombine. Paris, 1885 ; 8vo 
 (Privately printed). 
 
 La Colombine et Clement Marot. Paris, 1886; 8vo (Privately 
 printed). 
 
 Grandeza y decadencia de la Colomeina (Translation, and con- 
 troversial articles reprinted from the Spanish papers). Seville, 
 1886 ; i2mo. 
 
 Excerpta Colombiniana. Bibliographie de quatre cents pieces 
 gothiques, fran9aises, italiennes et latines du commencement du 
 xvi^ siecle, non d^crites jusqu'ici. Prdc^dee d'une histoire de la 
 Bibliotheque Colombine et de son fondateur. Paris, 1887 ; 8vo, 
 with numerous facsimiles of original types and illustrations. 
 
 70 
 
Le QUATRlkME CENTENAIRE DE LA D^COUVERTE DU NOUVEAU- 
 
 MoNDE. Lettre adressde k Son Excellence le Ministre de 
 rinstruction publique du royaume d'ltalie. Par un Citoyen 
 Amdricain. Genoa, 1887 ; large 8vo. 
 
 Christophe Colomb et Savone. Verzellino et ses " Memorie." 
 Etudes d'histoire critique et documentaire. Genoa, 1887 ; 8vo. 
 
 Christopher Columbus and the Bank of Saint George. New 
 York (London), 1888; large 4to, with plates and facsimiles 
 (Privately printed). 
 
 Christoph Columbus im Orient. Leipzig, 1888 ; 8vo (Separate 
 issue of an essay published in the Centralblatt fiir Bibliothekswesen). 
 
 Cristoforo Colombo e gli oriental!. Genoa, 1889 ; 8vo 
 (Separate issue of an Italian version of the above, published in 
 the Giornale Ligustico), 
 
 Document inedit concernant Vasco da Gama. Relation 
 adress^e \ Hercule d'Este, due de Ferrare. Paris, 1889; 8vo 
 {Per Nozze^ privately printed). 
 
 The late Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow. Introduction to 
 the Catalogue of his American Library. New York, 1889 ; 8vo 
 (Separate issue, with corrections, and portrait). 
 
 Christophe Colomb, les Corses et le gouvernement francais. 
 Paris, 1890 ; 8vo. 
 
 Cristoforo Colombo e il Banco di S. Giorgio. Saggio storico- 
 critico sui rapporti del grande navigatore con quell' istituto ; sull' 
 uffizio e sulle operazioni di banco nel medio evo e dimostrazione 
 documentata dell' origine di Colombo dalla citta di Genova sulla 
 base di inediti o poco noti documenti. Genova, a spese del 
 Municipio, 1890; folio, with plates and facsimiles. (For private 
 distribution by the City Council of Genoa.) 
 
 Nouvelles recherches sur l'histoire de l'Am^rique. Paris, 
 1890; 8vo (Separate issue of an article published in the Revue 
 Historique). 
 
 Qui a imprim^ la premiere lettre de Christophe Colomb? 
 Leipzig, 1892 ; 8vo (Separate issue of a critical dissertation pub- 
 lished in the Centralblatt fiir Bibliothekswesen), 
 
 The Discovery of North America. A Critical, Documentary, 
 and Historic Investigation, with an Essay on the Early Carto- 
 graphy of the New World, including descriptions of Two Hundred 
 and Fifty Maps or Globes, existing or lost, constructed before 
 the year 1536. To which are added a Chronology of One Hun- 
 dred Voyages Westward, Projected, Attempted, or Accomplished 
 
 71 
 
between 143 1 and 1504 ; Biographical Accounts of the Three 
 
 Hundred Pilots who first crossed the Atlantic; and a copious 
 
 List of the Original Names of American Regions, Caciqueships, 
 
 Mountains, Islands, Capes, Gulfs, Rivers, Towns, and Harbours. 
 
 Paris, H. Welter, 1892 ; large 4to, with twenty-three facsimiles of 
 
 ancient charts and globes. 
 Christophe Colomb devant l'Histoire. Paris, 1892 ; 8vo. 
 CoLOMB n'est pas n^ k Savone (Article in the Jievue Historique^ 
 
 November- December, 1892). 
 Christophe Colomb et ses historiens espagnols. Paris, 1892 ; 
 
 8vo (Separate issue of an article published in the Revue Critique), 
 Autographes de Christophe Colomb r^cemment di^couverts. 
 
 Paris, 1893; 8vo (Separate issue of an article published in the 
 
 Revue Historique). 
 Colomb et Toscanelli. Paris, 1893 ; 8vo (Separate issue of an 
 
 article published in the Revue Critique). 
 Introduction to Christopher Columbus's Own Book of 
 
 Privileges, 1502, compiled and edited by B. F. Stevens. 
 
 London, 1893 ; folio (Separate issue ; only twenty copies printed, 
 
 for distribution). 
 The early Paris Editions of Columbus's first " Epistola." 
 
 Leipzig, 1893 ; 8vo (Separate issue of an article in the Central- 
 
 blattfur Bibliothekswesen). 
 A PROPOS d'un manuscrit du ministers des affaires i^trang^res. 
 
 Paris, 1894 (Separate issue, 8vo and folio, with additions, of an 
 
 article published in the Revue Critique). 
 Christophe Colomb et les acad^miciens espagnols. Notes 
 
 pour servir k I'histoire de la science en Espagne au xix* siecle. 
 
 Paris, 1894; small 8vo. 
 S^bastien Cabot, navigateur v^nitien. Paris, 1895; 8vo (Sepa- 
 rate issue of a series of articles published in Drapeyron's Revue 
 
 de Geographie), 
 Pro Academia Hispaniensi. Paris, 1895 \ 8vo (Separate issue of 
 
 an article in the Revue Critique). 
 
 IN THE PRESS: 
 
 John Cabot, the Discoverer of North America, and Sebastian 
 his Son. A Chapter of the Maritime History of England under 
 the Tudors. London : B. F. Stevens, Publisher ; 8vo. 
 
 Fasti Columbini : a Chronological Epitome of the important and 
 authentic events in the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 
 1 446- 1 506. London : B. F. Stevens, Publisher; 4to. 
 
 72 
 
SOME PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BY 
 
 B. F. STEVENS, 
 
 4, Trafalgar Square, 
 
 London, W.C. 
 
 1895. 
 
 These Books will be forwarded free of charge {except Customs Duty, 
 if any) on receipt of the publication price. 
 
 B. F. Stevens's Facsimiles of Manuscripts 
 IN European Archives relating to Ame- 
 rica, 1 773- 1 783, with Descriptions, Edito- 
 rial Notes, Collations, References, and 
 Translations. 
 
 25 vols, ^500 pp. foolscap folio, on handmade paper, 
 in cardboard boxes, with leather-cove^^ed wood backs, cloth 
 sides, and jointed flaps. Offered to Subscribers only in 
 complete sets, $500 [;^i02 145. 10^.] nett, or in half- 
 morocco extra, gilt tops, $550 [^113] nett. Arrange- 
 ments may be made to snit the subscriber s convenience as 
 to delivery and payment. 
 
 Twenty-two of these large folio volumes are 
 already issued, vols. 23 and 24 are in the press, 
 and vol. 25, with the copious alphabetical sub- 
 ject-matter and general Index, is far advanced. 
 
 K 
 
These Facsimiles of Civil, Confidential, Diplomatic, and Political 
 Papers during the period of the American Revolution comprise many 
 hitherto unpublished letters of Dr. Franklin, Silas Deane, William 
 Carmichael, Arthur Lee, and other Americans in Paris with the 
 French Government; a mass of correspondence addressed to William 
 Eden (afterwards Lord Auckland) as Under Secretary of State, 
 with curious letters of informants and spies of various ranks in 
 society ; letters of De Beaumarchais, Le Ray de Chaumont, Baron 
 de Kalb, and other Frenchmen ; the original almost unknown 
 correspondence of the British Commissioners who in 1778 went 
 to America to negotiate peace with Congress, while the American 
 Commissioners were at the same time carrying on negotiations in 
 Paris ; that of the Marquis de Lafayette with Count de Ver- 
 gennes and others ; the letters of Lord Stormont, the English 
 Ambassador in Paris, never before published ; papers relating to 
 the capture of Henry Laurens and his sojourn in the Tower of 
 London; many of General Sir Henry Clinton*s letters, etc., etc. 
 
 The advantages of reproducing valuable MSS. in Facsimile 
 have long been admitted, and in this case such Facsimile repro- 
 ductions are especially important because no facilities exist in 
 America for consulting the original MSS. The well-known spirit 
 of modern research will not be dependent upon desultory texts and 
 casual references, which is all we have to-day, while (it is a safe 
 prophecy) to-morrow this spirit of great exactness will refuse any- 
 thing that is not a certified transcript, giving the preference always 
 to a veritable Facsimile of the Original. 
 
 This work, with the references, collations, and translations could 
 only be carried out with the aid of my great Indexes, which bring 
 the descriptions of the American Papers from 1763 to 1784 now 
 scattered through many Archives in England, France, Holland, 
 and Spain into one homogeneous collection. 
 
 That Index is not only a list of manuscripts and documents in 
 the order in which they exist, with their approximate dimensions, 
 and with descriptions of each paper, as far as convenient, by number, 
 date, place of origin, writer, addressee, language, whether signed, 
 original, duplicate, etc., with memoranda of endorsements, olRcial 
 minutes, uses, enclosures, etc., but it gives also a brief reswne (in 
 English) of each paper, with cross-references to duplicates, if any, 
 and when printed in full or in extracts it states where and to what 
 extent printed, and it also comprises the information in chrono- 
 logical and alphabetical arrangements. 
 
SOME OPINIONS AND COMMENDATIONS. 
 
 The Connecticut Historical Society : — " The more this work is 
 examined the more wonderful it seems. If it were the undertaking of a 
 great Government, backed by all the forces at its command, it would be 
 considered a magnificent thing ; as the effort of one man — an American — 
 it is a stupendous monument to human knowledge, historical zeal, and 
 self-denying labour and devotion.'' 
 
 The State Historical Society of Wisconsin : — " We have now re- 
 ceived twenty-one volumes of your Facsimiles .... and shall never regret 
 having subscribed to the series. They throw a flood of light, direct and 
 side, on many important events in our history, and even in those cases 
 where we have the matter in some other form, it is a genuine satisfaction 
 to the historical student to have before him what is fully equivalent for 
 purposes of study to the original document itself . . . You have done an 
 excellent work in most commendable style, and deserve the everlasting 
 gratitude of American scholars, present and to come." 
 
 Judge Elliott Anthony of Chicago : — " It is like taking up a 
 whole section of the State-Paper Office, and transferring it to your own 
 library, where you can examine its contents at your leisure." 
 
 Hon. John Bigelow : — " The Facsimiles unquestionably have a value 
 far exceeding that of any copy made with pen or type," 
 
 Mr. Oscar Browning, King's College, Cambridge: — "In my eyes 
 original documents are the very life of history. . . . Your Facsimiles are 
 so exact that it is difficult in some cases to distinguish them from the 
 originals, and they give the same pleasure to a researcher as the papers 
 from which they are taken." 
 
 Senator Geo. F. Hoar: — "/ hope that we shall possess in this 
 country absolutely trustworthy copies of all historical manuscripts to be 
 found abroad, which will be of use to our historical investigation." 
 
 Mr. J. N. Larned, Superintendent of the Buffalo Library: — 
 " The Documents copied are of the most important and interesting 
 character ; the reproduction is perfect, and the whole form and style in 
 which you have prepared the Facsimiles are admirable." 
 
 Hon. J. Russell Lowell : — " / think your plan an excellent one, and 
 from what I know of your exactness, and your thorough knowledge of the 
 subject, and your sound judgment, I am sure it will be faithfully and 
 intelligently carried out." 
 
 Mr. H. G. Marquand : — " The project is first-rate for public libraries 
 and historians." 
 
Mr, W. Nelson, Recording Secretary, New Jersey Historical 
 Society : — " It was an inspiration worthy of your genius for historical 
 research to conceive such a plan to place within the reach of all, the best 
 results of your thirty years of exploration among the State Papers of 
 Europe.'^ 
 
 Mr. Francis Parkman, Boston : — " Your plan is a bold and unique 
 one. The results must prove most valuable to the students of one of the 
 most interesting and important periods of American history." 
 
 Mr. W. F. Poole, Librarian : — " The Trustees of the Newberry 
 Library have requested me to express to you their deep interest in your 
 scheme of supplying Facsimile Transcripts of American Manuscripts in 
 European Archives, and they gladly subscribe." 
 
 Gen. John Meredith Read : — " Thirty years of research in many 
 of the great European repositories of knowledge enable me to appreciate 
 the value of your undertakings and the far-reaching character of your 
 plan." 
 
 M. DE RiALLE, Archives, Affaires Etrangeres : — " These Fac- 
 similes are wonderfully executed." 
 
 Mr. E. Maunde Thompson, Principal Librarian of the British 
 Museum : — " Every historical student knows how often, after reading 
 some interesting paper or letter, he wishes he could there and then have 
 the original under his eyes — sometimes from laudable curiosity, some- 
 times to satisfy a doubt whether the printed copy is faithful." 
 
 Mr. C. B. Tillinghast, State Librarian, Boston : — " The trustees 
 and librarian of this Library appreciate the great value of the work you 
 are doing. It should form an integral part of every library that gives 
 any attention to the history of America.'* 
 
 President Andrew D. White, Cornell University: — "^ com- 
 parison of your Facsimiles with original documents in the Record Office 
 has shown me that no plan has ever yet been proposed to compare with 
 yours.*^ 
 
 The ATHENiEUM, London : — " No public library, nor any private one 
 of any pretension, ought to be without a set of Mr. Stevens's Facsimiles. 
 Sir Robert Walpole irreverently spoke of history as a lie. These docu- 
 ments are full of facts out of which the intelligent student can frame a 
 history of an episode in the American Revolution which shall be trust- 
 worthy." 
 
 The Athen-sum, London : — " The issue of the tenth volume of Mr. 
 Stevens's great work is an appropriate occasion for reviewing its pro- 
 gress, and again directing attention to its plan and purpose. Much has 
 been written about the revolution in America which preceded the establish- 
 ment of the United States, yet no history can be accepted as altogether 
 
trustworthy. The difficulty in ascertaining the facts has been an obstacle 
 in the way of the conscientious historian, while the historian %vhose pre- 
 judices were invincible might arrange the facts to suit his purpose without 
 fear of detection. By publishing facsimiles of the original documents 
 in the archives of England, France, Holland, and Spain, Mr. Stevens 
 has enabled any intelligent reader to understand the manner in which 
 the struggle for independence was begun, continued, and concluded." 
 
 The Critic, New York : — " We have given but a slight idea of the 
 richness of the contents . . . much of which has never been printed. We 
 need hardly refer again to its undoubted value to students of history." 
 
 The Critic : — " The seventeenth volume of Mr. Stevens* s ' Facsimiles 
 of Documents in European Archives Relating to America ' is the most 
 interesting single volume yet published, and, as it is complete in itself, it 
 will doubtless attract the attention of many who may thus be led to sub- 
 scribe for the whole work, and in so doing aid the most important enter- 
 prise now on foot relating to American history. '' 
 
 The Critic : — " Mr. Stevens* s work grows more interesting with each 
 volume, for not only are these facsimiles of high importance to the 
 American historian, but they will be found fascinating and instructive 
 reading by all who take an interest in that history which is ^ past 
 politics.' " 
 
 The Nation, New York : — " There can be no question of accuracy in 
 copying or proof-reading, and the student has the advantage of seeing 
 the exact handwriting, erasures, interlineations, and signatures." 
 
 The Nation : — " The entire frankness [of these documents'] and want 
 of the least savour of international ethics are cynically destructive of 
 some of the illusions which still hover about an American idealization of 
 the Revolution." 
 
 The Nation, Notice of vol. xxi. — "/^ seems a fitting moment to 
 speak once more in praise of the performance as it advances towards 
 completion. Not only is the interesting character of the documents fully 
 maintained . . . but there is no discernible falling-off in the quality of 
 the paper, or in the well-nigh faultless execution (in facsimiles) of the 
 originals, and of the clear and beautifully written translations. The 
 technical effect is brilliant and stately — a thorough and careful piece of 
 workmanship." 
 
 The Churchman, New York : — .^^ A phenomenal work . . . a library 
 of our revolutionary annals in itself" 
 
 K 2 
 
Christopher Columbus ; His own Book of 
 Privileges, 1502. Photographic Facsimile 
 OF THE Manuscript in the Archives of 
 THE Foreign Office in Paris, now for 
 the first time published, with expanded 
 text, translation into english, and an 
 Historical Introduction. The Trans- 
 literation AND Translation by George 
 F. Barwick, B.A., OF the British Museum. 
 The Introduction by Henry Harrisse. 
 The whole compiled and edited with 
 Preface by Benjamin Franklin Stevens. 
 
 Now ready, limited edition on thick handmade paper, 
 foolscap folio, half pigskin, with plankwood sides and 
 clasps, pp. Ixvi and 284. Price ;^5 5^. nett i7i London, 
 or of Messrs. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, at $30. 
 
 One of the onl}^ two cartularies of Columbus known to exist, 
 photographed, by the almost unexampled courtesy of the French 
 authorities, in Mr. Stevens's own temporary studio erected in the 
 grounds of the Foreign Office. By skilful interleaving, the English 
 translation, with the transliteration into readable Spanish of the 
 much abbreviated manuscript, is placed opposite the facsimile, ail 
 facing pages whatever their length containing the corresponding 
 quantity of matter. The scholarly introduction by the great 
 authority on Columbian literature deals with the origin and sub- 
 sequent history of the four cartularies, and contains a critical 
 description of the separate documents and chapters on the coat of 
 arms, the heraldic motto and the monastery of Las Cuevas. Three 
 holograph letters of Columbus are added. The illuminated coat 
 of arms is accurately reproduced, and a photograph of the bag of 
 Cordovan leather now preserved in Genoa is also given. Both 
 paper and binding are in imitation of those in use in the sixteenth 
 century, and altogether the book is one of the handsomest ever 
 produced at the Chiswick Press. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The Standard, London : — " It may he regarded as the last of that 
 long series of works which owed their existence to the fourth centenary of 
 the famous mariner. But if the latest, it is also the noblest of its family. 
 Indeed, we know of no work on the by-ways of American history with 
 which it can be compared." 
 
 The Times : — " A volume of rare magnificence . . . its value is im- 
 mensely enhanced by the pains with which the text has been edited and the 
 skill with which it has been reproduced. Students of American origines 
 must be very hard to please if this sumptuous volume is not in all 
 respects, alike scholarly and artistic, entirely to their taste." 
 
 The Daily News : — " Apart from its intrinsic value as an historical 
 document it is a most striking achievement of the printing, binding, and 
 illustrating arts." 
 
 Thf Daily Chronicle : — " The world owes a debt of gratitude to 
 Mr. Stevens for this most sumptuous volume ... a book that may last 
 for ages.'* 
 
 The Scotsman, Edinburgh : — " A book that not only students of his- 
 tory will value, but which Americans who love their native land will 
 desire to possess as a tangible symbol of their patriotism." 
 
 Illustrated London News : — "^ more worthy monument to Columbus 
 has seldom been raised, and there is no collection of rare and magnificent 
 books, no public library, and no Spanish, Italian, or American patriot 
 but may well covet this splendid and scholarly volume." 
 
 Daily Telegraph, London : — ^'A volume which will rank for all time 
 as one of the most superb monuments of the discovery of America. We 
 cannot imagine a volume more calculated to afford delight to the most 
 learned student and bibliographer, no less than to intelligent readers." 
 
 Boston Herald : — " It is one of the handsomest and stateliest 
 volumes that have appeared since the invention of printing.*' 
 
 New York Daily Tribune : — ^" Mr. Stevens has the right traditions. 
 He does not condescend to cheapness. He has done his best to send 
 forth this transcript of a precious document in a garb worthy of it . . . 
 the present is probably his most brilliant contribution to the treasury oj 
 the book-lover." 
 
 Tribune, 2nd notice : — " The bibliophile . . . will gaze with admira- 
 tion at the pages, every one a triumph of the printer^s art. . . . The 
 average man . . . will not have to travel to Paris in the hope, perhaps 
 vain, of studying a codex which he can now have in his own library." 
 
AMERICUS VESPUCCIUS. 
 
 All books and manuscripts associating this name, rightly or 
 wrongly, with voyages or expeditions are of importance to collectors 
 
 of Americana. 
 
 The Voyage from Lisbon to India, 1505-6, 
 BEING AN Account and Journal by Al- 
 
 BERICUS VeSPUCCIUS. TRANSLATED FROM 
 THE CONTEMPORARY FLEMISH, AND EDITED 
 
 WITH Prologue and Notes by C. H. Coote, 
 Department of Printed Books (Geogra- 
 phical Section), British Museum. 
 
 This is a reproduction in photographic facsimile, inter- 
 leaved with a translation into English, of the hitherto 
 unknown Flemish tract. Handmade paper, foolscap ^to, 
 parchment backs and paper sides, pp. xxvii and 56, price 
 1 5^'. nett. Two hu7idred and fifty copies only printed 
 and numbered. 
 
 This is one of the Two recent English Books reviewed by Mr. 
 Harrisse in the present volume. 
 
 The Masters of Wood-Engraving. 
 By W. J. Linton. 
 
 For Subscribers only. Edition limited to five hundred 
 copies, folio, 16J x 12 inches, 229 pp., with nearly 200 
 cuts, mostly on India paper, and 48 full-page Illustra- 
 tions, at £\o \os. nett, and one hundred copies, large 
 folio, 20 X 15 inches, at £21 nett. 
 
 This work occupies new ground. Not without ample account 
 of the books in which Wood-Engraving has been used, and 
 careful sifting of old judgments through technical knowledge, it 
 also undertakes a history of the art by exhibition of the choicest 
 works from the earliest times. Toward the fulfilment of this pur- 
 pose the Library and Print Room of the British Museum have 
 been thoroughly searched, and many prints beyond the reach or 
 cognizance of ordinary students examined and chosen for repro- 
 
duction, — edition after edition looked to for the purest impres- 
 sions, from which alone photographs have been taken for Messrs. 
 Dawson's excellent facsimile processes, the reproduction being 
 always of the same size as the original in order to give as clearly 
 as possible the actual work of the engraver. No such collection, 
 farther added to from unique proofs in the author's possession, 
 has ever been attempted, has ever been possible until now. The 
 j^2i edition has certain cuts (such as Harvey's celebrated Denta- 
 tus) printed full size, the smaller edition not being large enough 
 to take them so. This edition also contains in a pocket that rarest 
 and most important of Durer's works in wood — the Triumphal Car 
 of Maximilian — measuring seven feet and four inches with a height 
 of eighteen inches. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Art Journal : — " The copiously illustrated volume by Mr, W. J, 
 Linton^ in which the plates are works of choice art, selected by one who 
 has long held high rank in his profession, is the most important publica- 
 tion of its class ; and besides this, there runs through it a strenuous vein 
 of protest against amateurism in art at large, especially that sort which 
 affects ' criticism ' proper, and disregards, or pretends to disregard, the 
 technical experience and learning of experts, including all that artists 
 claim as their exclusive province. So stringent are these protests, and 
 so reasonable do they appear, that we propose to consider them as briefly 
 as may be before studying the book in those other respects with which they 
 are very closely bound up. It is the more desirable to do this because it 
 is seldom an expert so distinguished as Mr. Linton descends into the 
 lists against untechnical persons, and is not himself so lost in technics 
 that his voice resembles that of one crying in the wilderness, where no 
 man listens and few men understand." 
 
 Athenaeum : — " A magnificent volume, admirable for printing, bind- 
 ing, and typography, and most admirable for illustrations, from both 
 ancient and modern examples, printed with great skill and care, and im- 
 mensely superior to those generally used in books of the sort, and some- 
 what boldly called facsimiles. Not a page without interest and extreme 
 pleasure and profit." 
 
 Portfolio : — " The history of the art by an expert of experts. If any 
 one be competent to teach the true merits of wood engraving, it is Mr. 
 W. J. Linton. Well filled with letterpress. Mr, Linton has absolute 
 knowledge of his subject." 
 
 English Illustrated Magazine : — " Mr. Linton's crowning achieve- 
 ment as historian of wood engraving. The most luxurious thing of its 
 kind that has yet been produced. Unquestionably the one authoritative 
 treatise by the greatest living master." 
 
The Campaign in Virginia, 1781. An exact 
 Reprint of Six Rare Pamphlets on the 
 Clinton-Cornwallis Controversy, with 
 Numerous Important Unpublished Manu- 
 script Notes by Sir Henry Clinton, K.B., 
 AND THE Omitted and hitherto Unpub- 
 lished Portions of the Letters in their 
 Appendices added from the Original 
 Manuscripts. With a Supplement con- 
 taining Extracts from the Journals of 
 THE House of Lords, a French Trans- 
 lation OF Papers laid before the House, 
 AND a Catalogue of the Additional 
 Correspondence of Clinton and of Corn- 
 
 WALLIS in 1780-81 : ABOUT 3,456 PaPERS 
 RELATING TO THE CONTROVERSY OR BEARING 
 
 ON Affairs in America. Compiled, Col- 
 lated, AND Edited (with Biographical 
 Notices in a Copious Index) by Benjamin 
 Franklin Stevens. 
 
 In two vols, royal Svo, pp. xxiXy 507, and 465, cloth, 
 gilt tops, 243-. nett. 
 
 These two volumes relating to the military controversy between 
 Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis will be found to be a valuable 
 contribution to the History of the American Campaign of 178 1, by 
 which the Independence of the United States was virtually secured. 
 The six pamphlets here reprinted are of such rarity that only one 
 library — that of the Department of State, Washington — possesses 
 all of them, and of the " Parting Word " no other copy is known. 
 In the copious Index many biographical notices are given, of which 
 the bulk of the information has grown out of Mr. Stevens's memo- 
 randa and indexes of American correspondence and documents in 
 the European archives. 
 
PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 Scotsman, Edinburgh : — " The collection regarded as a whole forms a 
 most valuable contribution to the history of the American War of Inde- 
 pendence. It is a mine of information upon the various movements of 
 the Campaign 0/1781." 
 
 Boston Post : — " Our countryman, Mr. B. F. Stevens, has done a 
 real service to historical students in the publication of this very care- 
 fully prepared edition of the Clinton and Cornwallis pamphlets. One 
 of the pamphlets is believed to be unique — at least, Mr. Stevens knows of 
 only one copy, which is in the State Department at Washington." 
 
 General Sir William Howe's Orderly Book 
 AT Charlestown, Boston, and Halifax, 
 June 17, 1775, to May 26, 1776, to which 
 is added the official abridgment of 
 General Howe's Correspondence with 
 THE English Government during the 
 Siege of Boston, and some Military 
 Returns. Now first printed from the 
 Original Manuscripts, with an Histori- 
 cal Introduction by Edward Everett 
 Hale, the whole collected and edited 
 BY Benjamin Franklin Stevens. 
 
 In one vol. royal Zvo,pp, xxi and 357, cloth, gilt top, at 
 \2s. nett. 
 
 This curious Orderly Book, which presents every detail of the 
 administration and discipline of the English army in the Siege of 
 Boston, has been happily preserved for the use of historians among 
 the American manuscripts in the Library of the Royal Institution in 
 London. This edition is carefully printed from the original MS. 
 by permission of the managers of the Royal Institution, the spell- 
 ing and punctuation being preserved even when evidently incorrect. 
 The copious Index will be found of great service. 
 
 The edition published by the N.Y. Historical Society contains 
 only about one-half of the matter in the above volume. 
 
CIIISWICK PRESS :— CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. 
 
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