Amerriques, Amerigho, Vespucci and America

Jules Marcou

IBUKI - Annals of Science #128 $4.25

This facinating article carefully outlines the argument that the name "America" was not derived from the man named Vespucci, but was instead the name of a mountain range and a tribe of indians that Columbus reports of encounters with on his forth voyage to the New World.

Using quotes from still existing original documants, Marcou shows how Vespucci changed his name to resemble "America," the name then used by common people for the New World, to promote the idea that it was named after him

This article is reprinted from the annual report of the Smithsonian Institute for 1888. The first paper the Marcou wrote on this matter appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for March 1875.