Ramusio describes a map, supposed to be this, which he states to have been
drawn up for the elucidation of Marco Polo's travels.
On this map, so far as it relates to the circumnavigation of Africa, Dr.
Vincent has given a dissertation, having procured a _fac-simile_ copy
from Venice, which is deposited in the British Museum; the substance of
this dissertation we shall here compress. He divides his dissertation into
three parts. First, whether this was the map noticed by Ramusio, and by him
supposed to be drawn up to elucidate the travels of Marco Polo. On this
point he concludes that it was the map referred to by Ramusio, but that his
information respecting it is not correct. The second point to be determined
is, whether the map procured from Venice was really executed by Mauro, and
whether it existed previous to the Portuguese discoveries on the west coast
of Africa. Manro lived in the reign of Alphonso the Fifth, that is between
1438 and 1480; the whole of this map, therefore, is prior to Diaz and Gama,
two celebrated Portuguese navigators. Consequently, if it can be proved
that the map obtained by Dr. Vincent is genuine, it must have existed
previous to the Portuguese discoveries. The proof of the genuineness of the
map is derived from the date on the planisphere, 1459; the internal
evidence on the work itself; and the fact that Alphonso, or Prince Henry of
Portugal, who died in 1463, received a copy of this map from Venice, and
deposited it in the monastery of Alcobaca, where it is still kept.
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