Amerigo Vespucci

Copyright, 1907, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. Published February, 1907.
XVIth Century. Vespucci's letters to Soderini and L. P. F. de' Medici, reproduced in this volume.
XVIIth Century. Herrera, in his Historia General (etc.), Madrid, 1601; probably followed Las Casas, whose MSS. he had.
XVIIIth Century. Dandini, A. M., Vita e Lettere di Amerigo Vespucci , Florence, 1745.
Canovai, Stanislac, Elogia di Amerigo Vespucci , 1778.
XIXth Century. Navarrete, M. F. de, Noticias Exactas de Americo Vespucio , contained in his Coleccion, Madrid, 1825-1837.
Humboldt, Alexander von, Examen Critique de l'Histoire de la Géographie de Nouveau Continent , Paris, 1836-1839.
Lester, C. Edwards, The Life and Voyages of Americus Vespucius , New York, 1846; reprinted, in de luxe edition, New York, 1903.
Varnhagen, F. A., Baron de Porto Seguro, Amerigo Vespucci, son Caractère, ses Écrits (etc.), Lima, 1865; Vienna, 1874. A collection of monographs called by Fiske the only intelligent modern treatise on the life and voyages of this navigator.
Fiske, John, The Discovery of America , Boston, 1899; contains an exhaustive critical examination of Vespucci's voyages to which the reader should refer for more extended information.

Cradled in the valley of the Arno, its noble architecture fitly supplementing its numerous natural charms, lies the Tuscan city of Florence, the birthplace of immortal Dante, the early home of Michael Angelo, the seat of the Florentine Medici, the scene of Savonarola's triumphs and his tragic end. Fame has come to many sons of Florence, as poets, statesmen, sculptors, painters, travellers; but perhaps none has achieved a distinction so unique, apart, and high as the subject of this volume, after whom the continents of the western hemisphere were named.