Toscanelli and Columbus. By Henry Vignand. (Sands and Co. 10s.
6d. net.)—The blackening process goes on vigorously along- side of the whitewashing. Our villains are metamorphosed into heroes, our heroes into villains. This time it is Christopher Columbus who is dealt with. We have no opinion to give on the questions discussed by Mr. Vignand. Is the letter of Toscanelli, the Florentine astronomer, genuine ? Toscanelli is supposed to have written to Columbus showing him that the way to the New World was across the Atlantic. It is here maintained that there was no such letter; that what exists was forged by Bartholomew Columbus with the complicity of Las Casas ; and that Columbus acted, not on scientific reasons suggested by others or thought out by himself, but on the suggestion of a certain pilot who had seen land somewhere out in the West. The map, in Mr. Vignand's view, shares the fate of the letter. We leave our readers to judge for themselves. They will find the matter stated here, with fac- similes, etc.
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