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Page 35
With the correction, therefore, of the date of the Munster map, the
argument in favor of the authenticity either of the Verrazzano
discovery or of the Verrazano map, based upon the recognition by the
Munster map, of that discovery immediately after it is alleged to
have taken place, or after the alleged construction of the Verrazano
map, in 1529, and before any other voyages were made by the French
to that region, falls entirely to the ground. And with the actual
representation upon it of the discoveries of Cartier, without any
allusion to the alleged discoveries of Verrazzano or the pretensions
of the Verrazano map, while giving the latest discoveries in
America, it is fairly to be concluded that both were unheard of, or
utterly discredited by the author of the Munster map.
The map of Agnese stands, therefore, as the earliest chart of an
acknowledged date showing the western sea, and that is independently
of the Verrazzano discovery, or the Verrazano map. The hitherto
unpublished maps produced by Mr. Kohl, also for the purpose of
proving the influence of the Verrazzano discovery, fail entirely of
that object. The first of them, in point of date, the sketch (No.
XV. c) from the portolano of 1536, preserved in the Bodleian library
at Oxford, shows a track of navigation from the north of France,
across the Atlantic, RUNNING BETWEEN THE BACALAOS AND THE LAND OF
THE BRETONS, THROUGH THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE, TO THE PACIFIC, AND
THENCE TO CATHAY. There is no representation of the western sea, as
shown on the Verrazano map, but on the contrary, the whole of the
western coast of North America is shown conjecturally in a different
form, by dotted lines. So far as this map affords any indication on
the subject, it refers to the route of Cartier, and delineates the
Atlantic coast according to the Spanish map of Ribero, that is, with
a trending of the coast in a more northerly direction than the
Verrazano map, and with the peculiar return of that coast westerly,
in latitude 40 Degrees N., given on that map. The next chart (No.
XV. d) from a map made by Diego Homem in 1540, shows the western sea
nearly the same as on the map of Agnese, but conjecturally only;
while the representation of the Atlantic coast has the same
characteristics as the Bodleian and Agnese maps, showing its
derivation from Ribero and not the Verrazano map. The remaining
sketch given by Mr. Kohl (No. XV. b) from a map made by G. Ruscelli
in 1544, presenting the same features, as do the two others, in
regard to the Atlantic coast, puts beyond all question that the map
of Ribero is its authority, by adopting from it the name of Montagne
Verde which is applied by Ribero to the hills at the mouth of the
river San Antonio, in latitude 41 Degrees N., thereby certainly
excluding any recognition of the Verrazzano discovery or the
Verrazano map.
The first published map which refers to the Verrazzano discoveries,
that of Mercator in 1569, makes no reference to the Verrazano map,
and does not recognize it in any manner. Mercator was the first to
give the name of Claudia to the island of Louise, evidently
mistaking the name of the wife of Francis for that of his mother,
after whom the island was called, according to the letter, without
stating her name. Mercator gives a legend in which he mentions that
Verrazzano arrived on the coast on the 17th of March 1524, which is
the day according to the version of Ramusio, following our mode of
computation, as before explained. It is evident, therefore, that
Mercator had the Ramusio version before him, and not the Verrazano
map, as his authority on the subject. His delineation of the
Atlantic coast, moreover, is according to the plan of Ribero, and he
gives no indication of the western sea of the Verrazano map, but
mentions in a legend the fresh water inland sea spoken of by
Cartier, of the extent of which the Indians were ignorant.
The existence of the Verrazano map, much less its date, is obviously
not proven by any of the maps or charts to which reference has here
been made, and which are supposed to reflect some of its features,
or indicate the verity of the Verrazzano discovery. There is,
however, some evidence of a positive character, both historical and
cartographical, which points to the existence of this map in two
different forms, one originally not representing the Verrazzano
discovery, and the other subsequently, as now presented.
The existence of a Verrazano map in some form or other, as early as
1537, seems to be established by a letter of the commendatory,
Annibal Caro, written in that year. Caro, who became distinguished
among his countrymen for his polite learning, was, in early life,
secretary to the cardinal, M. de Gaddi, a Florentine, residing in
Rome. While thus engaged, he accompanied his patron on a journey to
the mines of Sicily, and there, from Castro, addressed a playful
letter to the members generally of the cardinal's household,
remaining at Rome. In this letter, which is dated the 13th of
October in that year, he writes to them: "I will address sometimes
one and sometimes another of you, as matters come into my mind. To
you, Verrazzano, a seeker of NEW WORLDS and their marvels, I cannot
yet say anything worthy of YOUR MAP, because we have not passed
through any country which has not been discovered by you or your
brother." [Footnote: "De le lettre familiari des commendatore
Annibal Caro," vol. 1. P. 6-7. Venetia, 1581.] This passage was
supposed by Tiraboschi to have been addressed to the navigator, and
as proving that he was alive at the time the letter was written. But
we now know that Verrazzano had then been dead ten years; besides,
it is not probable, inasmuch as the person addressed was one of the
servants of the prelate, that the navigator would have occupied that
position. M. Arcangeli suggests that the name is used by Caro merely
as a nom de guerre; [Footnote: "Discorso sopra Giovanni da
Verrazzano," p. 27, in "Archivio Storico Italiano," Appendice vol.
IX.] but in either case, whether borrowed or not, the remark plainly
enough refers to a Verrazzano map, which may POSSIBLY have been the
map of Hieronimo.
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