The Romance of the Name T America HE name America is a poem and a poetic inspiration, a prophetic revelation, a patriotic heirloom and the sublimest case of historical justice on record. Of the radiant constellation of Continental names, the sparkling star "America" is the most illustrious, illuminating and illustrating in its majestic simplicity and significance. In fact, it is a name of divine origin, the proudest title of a great people, and has a most glorious history. The New World also glories, above all continents, in the distinction of having a distinct birthday-October 12-22, 1492, a distinct day on which it was named-April 25May 5, 1507, and that its name, America, has a distinct meaning appropriate with American ideals and aspirations. ** * * THE ESTABLISHED FACTS. In determining the real origin, derivation and meaning of the word America we have to consider as I established the following facts, which are now accepted by all scholars on the subject as incontestable: FIRST: That the name originated in the town of St. Dié, in the Vosges, Lorraine. It was first suggested in the Cosmographiae Introductio, a little cosmographical treatise, published on April 25 (May 5 of our reckoning), 1507. It was placed on the map (the great mappomundi of Waldseemüller) in the same town somewhere between this date and December 10, 1508 (the death of King René II., Duke of Lorraine, who is known to have had a copy of this map in his possession), and also on a globe about the same time. SECOND: That Amerigo Vespucci neither authorized these proceedings, nor did he suggest this name, nor did (RECAP) 1066 -2 3 he himself ever use it or place it on a map. In fact, he had absolutely no connection with the selection of his given name as the root for the New World's name. THIRD: That his given name was Amerigo, sometimes also spelled Amerigho or Amerrigo, according to the loose habits of the times as regards names. FOURTH: That the name Alberico Vespucci occurs only once, and that is in the Latin translation of the famous Mundus Novus letter, addressed by Vespucci to his Magnifico Padrone, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici. It is now generally agreed that this use of the name Alberico is the result of a printer's error, committed in the officin of Jehan Lambert, of Paris, for whom the illustrious Fra Giovanni de Giocondo (Jocundus of Verona), humanist, epigraphist, architect and mathematician, the friend of Lorenzo il Magnifico of Florence, builder of two bridges over the Seine (the Petit Pont and Notre Dame bridges), and assistant architect of St. Peter's, Rome, had translated the Editio Princeps of the Mundus Novus letter from the original Italian-SpanishPortuguese jargon into polished Latin. FIFTH: That the Mundus Novus (New World) or Quarta Pars (Fourth Part), about which Vespucci wrote so fascinatingly in his various letters, and which it was in good faith presumed he had discovered, was not supposed to have had any connection with the discoveries of Columbus, who it was generally believed had found a new route to a part of the Old World (Asia) by sailing from the East to the West and had accidentally and incidentally stumbled across some unknown islands. Full credit is given to Columbus by Vespucci in his letters and also on the Waldseemüller map of 1507. It was further believed that this New World or Fourth Part extended only from below the Equator to the Antarctic Zone, a region which Columbus in his four journeys never touched. SIXTH: That the name America was originally in St. Dié applied only to the lower part of the South American Continent; that it was extended to the upper part of the Southern half and finally also to the Northern part, long after the relative importance of the Columbian discovery and the Vespuccian travels had been realized and after |