Amerigo Vespucci

Historians generally agree that Amerigo Vespucci embarked on two voyages to the New World: one in 1499 and another in 1501. The second voyage took Vespucci, an Italian and friend of Columbus, in a fleet of ships from Portugal to the coast of Brazil. The following account is taken from a letter Vespucci wrote in 1502 to his patron and former employer in Florence, Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici.

An avid geographer and astronomer, Vespucci learned much about Columbus's claims to have found a passage to the Indies. In this letter, Vespucci seems to have realized that the coast he traveled was the edge of a "new" continent and not an extension of Asia. Additionally, Vespucci was captivated by the incredible places and people he had encountered. His descriptions of indigenous people included themes echoed elsewhere in Renaissance Europe...