660 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



made the change, in his Latiu version, as a sort of poetical license. But 

 it is very doubtful, for King Rene received the French manuscript, and 

 very likely the person who sent it made the dedication, as it is the 

 custom when you address Royalty. Besides, Rene gave the manuscript 

 to his secretary, Gaultier Lud, and finally Lud delivered it to Jean 

 Basin ; and it is too much to suppose that Jean Basin took upon him- 

 self to alter the manuscript to such an extent, for it would have raised 

 protests from both Lud and the good and honest King Rene. 



Who did send the manuscript to King Rene is not known with cer- 

 tainty. Alexander de Humboldt thought it was Vespucci himself, and 

 everything favors the same conclusion. Vespucci was desirous of no- 

 toriety as a great traveller and discoverer. He addressed his first letter 

 to a Mt-dicis, after placing the relation of his third voyage in the hands 

 of the King, Don Manuel of Portugal; and he addressed his second 

 letter first to the King, Don Ferdinand of Spain, and second to the 

 Perpetual Gonfalonier of Florence, instead of Lorenzo Pierfrancscio de 

 Medicis, who was dead. Evidently Vespucci sought the good opinions 

 of the great of the earth, and to acquaint them with what he did as a 

 navigator and discoverer. Not knowing French, he had his manuscript 

 translated, and the translator did it literally, only by an oversight of 

 Vespucci he wrote the dedication to the illustrious King liene, and sub- 

 stituted for Vostra Mag., " Votre Majeste." Very likely Vespucci in- 

 tended to make some changes in the term of the dedication used for 

 Soderini, but by some mistake or misunderstanding, or from being 

 at some distance from the translator, — if the translation was made in 

 Florence, which is probably the case.* Vespucci was not able to see 

 that the dedication to King Rene was correct, and the elegant poet, 

 Jean Basin, simply translated into Latin the French version without 

 any explanation or rectification, not knowing if Vespucci really had oc- 

 casion to know King Rene in his youth. 



No trace of a correspondence between Vespucci and King Rene has 

 been found. We are reduced to conjecture. Vespucci was interested 

 to enrol among his admirers such an important personage as the good 

 King Rene, known as a Meccenas and a seeker for geographical news, 

 for it is known that he had sent Ringman twice to Italy in order to 

 control the texts of Ptoleme and procure the best copies it was possible 

 to collect. There is no doubt that Vespucci was well informed of what 

 was going on in the world. He knew that Lorenzo Pierfrancisco de 

 Medicis was dead, and that his first letter had been published in Latin 

 in Paris ; and he wanted his second letter to be also published in Latin 

 in central Europe. 



It is possible that King Ren^ received the French translation of the 

 four voyages of Vesi)ncc! from another source; only then it is difiBcult 



* The translatioa of the second letter of Vespucci iato French was made at B'lorence, 

 bj' some olc well acquainted with the family of Vespucci, for the translator has added 

 that Soderini and he were pupils at the school kept by the uaclo of Vespucci ; a facl 

 wbioh 18 uot indicated ia the Italian edition. 



