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Page 6
"Upon collating this manuscript with that part of the letter which
was published by Ramusio, we were struck with the differences in
language which run through every paragraph of the two texts. In
substance there is no important difference [Footnote: In this
statement Mr. Greene was mistaken, as will be manifested in a
comparison of the two texts hereafter given, in which the difference
of language will also appear.] except in one instance, where by an
evident blunder of the transcriber, bianchissimo is put for
branzino. There is something so peculiar in the style of this
letter, as it reads, in the manuscript of the Magliabechian, that it
is impossible to account for its variations from Ramusio, except by
supposing that this editor worked the whole piece over anew,
correcting the errors of language upon his own authority. [Footnote:
Mr. Greene adds in a note to this passage: "He did so also with the
translation of Marco Polo. See Apostolo Zeno, Annot. alla Bib. Ital.
del Fontanini, tom. II, p. 300; ed. di Parma. 1804." There is
another instance mentioned by Amoretti in the preface to his
translation of Pigafetta's journal of Magellan's voyage, and that
was with Fabre's translation of the copy of the journal given by
Pigafetta to the mother of Francis I. Premier voyage autour du
monde. xxxii. (Jansen, Paris l'an ix.)] These errors indeed are
numerous, and the whole exhibits a strange mixture of Latinisms
[Footnote: An instance of these Latinisms is the signature "Janus
Verrazzanus," affixed to the letter.] and absolute barbarisms with
pure Tuscan words and phrases. The general cast of it, however, is
simple and not unpleasing. The obscurity of many of the sentences
is, in a great measure, owing to false pointing.
"The cosmographical description forms the last three pages of the
letter. It was doubtless intentionally omitted by Ramusio, though it
would be difficult to say why. Some of the readings are apparently
corrupt; nor, ignorant as we are of nautical science, was it in our
power to correct them. There are also some slight mistakes, which
must be attributed to the transcriber.
"A letter which follows that of Verrazzano, gives, as it seems to
us, a sufficient explanation of the origin of this manuscript. It
was written by a young Florentine, named Fernando Carli, and is
addressed from Lyons to his father in Florence. It mentions the
arrival of Verrazzano at Dieppe, and contains several circumstances
about him, which throw a new though still a feeble light upon parts
of his history, hitherto wholly unknown. It is by the discovery of
this letter, that we have been enabled to form a sketch of him,
somewhat more complete than any which has ever yet been given.
"The history of both manuscripts is probably as follows: Carli wrote
to his father, thinking, as he himself tells it, that the news of
Verrazzano's return would give great satisfaction to many of their
friends in Florence. He added at the same time, and this also we
learn from his own words, a copy of Verrazzano's letter to the king.
Both his letter and his copy of Verrazzano's were intended to be
shown to his Florentine acquaintances. Copies, as is usual in such
cases, were taken of them; and to us it seems evident that from some
one of these the copy in the Magliabechian manuscript was derived.
The appearance of this last, which was prepared for some individual
fond of collecting miscellaneous documents, if not by him, is a
sufficient corroboration of our statement." [Footnote: Historical
Studies: by George Washington Greene, New York, 1850; p. 323. Life
and Voyages of Verrazzano (by the same), in the North American
Review for October, 1837. (Vol. 45, p. 306).]
Adopting the Carli copy as the primitive form of the Verrazzano
letter, and the Carli letter as the original means by which it has
been communicated to the world, the inquiry is resolved into the
authenticity of the Carli letter. There are sufficient reasons to
denounce this letter as a pure invention; and in order to present
those reasons more clearly, we here give a translation of it in
full:
Letter of Fernando Carli to his Father. [Footnote: The letter of
Carli was first published in 1844, with the discourse of Mr. Greene
on Verrazzano, in the Saggiatore (I, 257), a Roman journal of
history, the fine arts and philology. (M. Arcangeli, Discorso sopra
Giovanni da Verrazzano, p. 35, in Archivio Storico Italiano.
Appendice tom. IX.) It will be found in our appendix, according to
the reprint in the latter work.]
In the name of God.
4 August, 1524.
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