Produced by Suzanne Shell, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error by the publisher is noted at the end of this ebook.] AMERIGO VESPUCCI BY FREDERICK A. OBER HEROES OF AMERICAN HISTORY _ILLUSTRATED_ [Illustration] HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON 1907 Copyright, 1907, by HARPER & BROTHERS. _All rights reserved._ Published February, 1907. [Illustration: AMERIGO VESPUCCI] CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. YOUNG AMERIGO AND HIS FAMILY 1 II. AMERIGO'S FRIENDS AND TEACHERS 15 III. VESPUCCI'S FAVORITE AUTHORS 32 IV. IN THE SERVICE OF SPAIN 45 V. CONVERSATIONS WITH COLUMBUS 59 VI. VESPUCCI'S DEBATABLE VOYAGE 76 VII. VESPUCCI'S "SECOND" VOYAGE 101 VIII. WITH OJEDA THE FIGHTER 126 IX. CANNIBALS, GIANTS, AND PEARLS 138 X. FAMOUS FELLOW-VOYAGERS 148 XI. ON THE COAST OF BRAZIL 165 XII. THE "FOURTH PART OF THE EARTH" 179 XIII. THE FOURTH GREAT VOYAGE 194 XIV. KING FERDINAND'S FRIEND 209 XV. PILOT-MAJOR OF SPAIN 221 XVI. HOW AMERICA WAS NAMED 237 ILLUSTRATIONS AMERIGO VESPUCCI _Frontispiece_ A CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF TOSCANELLI'S MAP _Facing p._ 20 MARCO POLO " 40 OJEDA'S FIRST VOYAGE " 130 ROUTES OF THE DISCOVERERS " 166 NORTH AMERICA FROM THE GLOBE OF JOHANN SCHOeNER " 244 AUTHORITIES ON AMERIGO VESPUCCI 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 Geographie 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.