410 Miscellanies. 



Copenhagen, July 9th, 1S36. 



Dear Sir, — The printing of our announced work will, we hope, 

 be entirely finished in the course of a few months. The delay that 

 has taken place in forwarding to you and other gentlemen the pro- 

 spectus issued by us, will prevent our receiving the subscriptions in 

 season to transmit copies of the work this fall. 



Along with this, I send a written supplementary notice, which I re- 

 quest you will prevail on some of the publishers of the most exten- 

 sively circulated papers and periodicals to insert. 



Antiquitaies Americana. — On the 19th November last year, the 

 Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, issued a prospectus, of a 

 collection of the accounts extant in ancient Icelandic and other Scan- 

 dinavian Manuscripts, relative to Voyages of discovery to North 

 America made by the Scandinavians in the lOth and follovjing cen- 

 turies. It is hoped that this prospectus has already been published 

 in America; and the following supplementary notice is now added 

 to it. 



This work will now soon be issued from the press. A circumstance 

 that occasioned considerable delay, was the engraving of the fac 

 similes, which was rendered very laborious by the uncommon dark- 

 ness and illegibleness of the parchments ; but which is now at length 

 finished. The work will be illustrated by eighteen plates in all, viz. 

 eight large fac similes, four maps on which are given the Old North- 

 ern names of countries and places, and six other engravings. 



From communications made to us by several of the Society's 

 members in America, we learn that an English translation would be 

 highly acceptable. Whether this will be undertaken or not, must be 

 left for future consideration ; and will mainly depend upon the pat- 

 ronage furnished to the original work. 



No translation however can be equivalent to, or render superfluous 

 the original Old Northern or ancient Icelandic text, which all culti- 

 vators and admirers of the history of the Ante-Columbian epochs of 

 America will now have it in their power to consult ; and by means 

 of its immediate study, they will be able to come to a clear convic- 

 tion of the importance of the accounts contained in the ancient man- 

 uscripts of the north. 



We would remark, that in the main work itself, several important 

 elucidations, received from learned men in America, are inserted in 

 the English language, as it is to be presumed that the greatest num- 

 ber of readers will prefer perusing them in that tongue. 



