New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-27

rency in Portugal and Spain. and was not With
out influence upon thu formation of that polcy
of sceptical criticism and partial reputation Oh
which the court embarked and TO which Coiuii-
bus and his family owed much bitterness anu
trouble. Mr. Vignaud believes that in order TO
combat the story Of the pilot Bartholomew Co
lunnbus fabricated the Toscanelh letter anu
chart, with the idea Of thus demonstrating the
scientific foundation of his brothers enterprise
He admits that 1t is strange that the documents
were not. on the other hand, brought forward
when they were most needed; but he explains
this on the hypothesis that Columbus declined
to have anything to do with the scheme II .i
was not restrained by sense OF honor II ms"
be assumed that he realized the futlilty Vi Inv
action, tnasmuch the Toscaneln oocuiiiei
while refuting the pilot story, would onis ST.
the glory to third person, and In exaltihs io0
caneln rob Columbus Of all his pretensloiie ~
scientific theory. Who, then, was respons-
for the production Of the documents? MI. Wig
maud conjectures that they rested aLioiie 49,
Columbus family papers when those reaeneu
the possession of Maria de Toledo, the "loo"
Of the explorers son, Diego, and that her soi'
Don Luis Colon man OF very douptIui chai-
acter was responsible for the embodiment Oh lhe
forgery in the work of Las Casas ana IN 'he
coy,,n,1atfon ascribed to Ferdinand The details
on which Mr. Vignaud rests this charge, ike
those on which he bases his destructive cr1tl-
cfsrn of the letter and chart, his refusal to be-
lieve in Columbus scientist before the ols-
covery and his strong inclination to accept the
pilot story are too numerous and minute to be
restated here. But there are several aspects or
the whole business which must be briefly
traversed.
The authenticity of the letter and chart is I'M
pugned with special reliance on the fact that
nowhere outside of Las Casas, Ferdinand Co
lumbus, and the copy of l4Ineas SylVius at Sc
Vile is there anything TO even hint at los
canelli's having communicated with any one IN
Portugal or elsewhere the subject of explora-
ton to the west. The silence where this ma1ter
is concerned of all the archives and of all fif-
teenth century memoirs or other literature IN
Italy and Portugal is assuredly striking But 1t
is not absolutely conclusive testimony to the
accuracy Of Mr.. Vignaud's argument He lays
stress upon the fact that the cosmographicai
ideas in the letter to Martins derive from
Marinus of Tyre given in Ptolemy, and re
marks that lit was not until 14lo that Latin
translation of this work, done by Jacopo Angelo,
was nrinted at Vicenza" whereas Toscanelli
wrote il he wrote at all, in 14I4. But MI
yignaud himself admits that Angeles transla-
ton dates, it is true from 14O9 or 14lo; and as
this Hellenist dwelt Florence, it is quite pos
sible Toscaneli may have known of his work
with all diaidence that Mr.. vignaud is scarcely
justified in doubling the probability Of the as
tronomer's having had dealings with the work
in question on the ground that such researches
would presuppose special labors on geography
and cosmography, whereas nothing warrants US
in the belief that Toscanelli particularly occu-
pied himself with those studies In those Gays
Of Unsuitable curiosity among scholars los
canelli may easily have examined manuscript
of Ptolerny and the very limitations which MI
Vignaud sets upon his geographical and cosIno-
graphical interests may account for his having
overlooked Ptoemy's correction Of the error OF
Marinus OF Tyre. We may note in passing that'
while denying authority to Toscaneni in cos
biography in the passage just quoted from
page 76 on page 251 the author alludes 10
him as "a great cosmographer living at the
fountainhead of all information bearing on the
East" There must have been some curious
oversight here. AS they stand, the TWO re1er-
ences fatty contradict each other and are ser1-
ousy confusing.
That Columbuss cosmographical system is
posterior to his discovery is contended by MT
vignaud with particular reference TO two points
The fundamental ideas of that system Columbus
borrowed from the Image Mundi" Of Cardinal
dAillv Mr. Vignaud declares that that work
could not have been printed before 1881, and all
the photographers agree with him, but ne cahhol
offer absolute proofs. Furthermore the first TWO
sentences in the following passage cannot be
accepted as rendering absolutely impresnable
the position assumed in the third;
IF Columbus had known the Image Mundf'
aud FtoIerov before his first voyage it is more
than probable that in the voluminous journal
he has written of that voyage he Wouio nave
made some allusion either to the authoIs 70
whom he owed his ideas or to the ideas them
selves He has done nothing Of the KIND rms
fact authorizes us in believing that columbus
only knew the Image Mundf' and Ptoleny
late in his career, and that consequently the
notions resuming his cosmogra phlcal system,
the srnalness Of the earth ana the sredt extent
Of the land in opposition TO the sea, olliy caIIe
to hin, after he had effected his first. and very
likely not till after his third or even FOURTH
voyage
Opponents of Mr. Vignaud's argument might
.l,a ,,,uch of the absence Of final information
conforming the date of the Image Mundi," and
they might urge in criticism Of the passage just
o;+ed that there is after ALL nothing conclusive
.ho,+ the silence preserved by Columbus in his
sorrna1 No historical parsonage has ever done,
consistently and precisely, just what TO the
modern mind, it seems natural ana even IN
evitable that he SHOULD have done Columous
NAV have known the Image Munoi anu ftoi-
envy long before the date Whlch MT Nlshauu
sets as probably the earliest at Whlch ne coulo
have made their acquaintance ne may nave
,r,o,,,r them in manuscript for he lived in a
,,,oa when literature constantly circulated In
that form His silence In the journal may mean
much or little: it may mean ignorance or II
may mean one of those unaccountapie retlcences
which are not unfamiliar In the history OF VS.
ionaries like the great Genoese. His refusal 10
mako use of the forged Toscanelh letter ana
chart may be explained, as MT Vlshauu eA
plains it, by attributing 10 hiiii ~
snch n dishonest act or by assuming thal he
- ~, bod noIicv of such course. But is 1t
-. -,,.;,1e that the Toscaneln letter was genu-