The Letters of Amerigo Vespucci, and Other Documents Illustrative of His Career

In 1507, a cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller made a decision that would echo through centuries: he named the New World "America," honoring a Florentine navigator whose letters had captivated European readers. That decision, based on documents of disputed authenticity, is why we inhabit a continent called Amerigo rather than Columbia. This collection presents the actual letters that sparked one of history's most consequential acts of renaming, alongside supporting documents that trace Vespucci's transformation from Medici bank clerk to celebrated explorer. The letters detail his voyages along the South American coast, his encounters with indigenous peoples, and his own soaring ambitions. But they also raise uncomfortable questions: Did he exaggerate his discoveries? Did he invent latitudes and longitudes? Did he ride coattails of earlier voyages and claim them as his own? Clements Markham, the distinguished Royal Geographic Society secretary who compiled this edition, was among those who believed in Vespucci's genuine contributions. Whether you share that belief or not, these documents remain essential for understanding how exploration, self-promotion, and myth-making became inseparable in the Age of Discovery. For readers who wonder how history gets written, and who profits from the writing, Vespucci's letters remain an indispensable and unsettling primary source.