“ Americus Vespusius in the hands of the engraver, & therefore request the favour of you sir to transmit it to me in the manner you propose. The print will be better for my purpose to have an engraving from, than to engrave from a drawing of the picture. I sincerely wish there was also an equally good print of Columbus.--Mr. Wood a very distinguished likeness painter, proposes to go to Washington when Congress sits, if he does, he purposes having the honor of waiting on you to paint Columbus for me.--. . .”

A postscript to this letter reads: “The print of Vespusius shall be taken special care of & returned to you when done with.”

On August 9 Jefferson sent to Delaplaine the engraved portrait from Canovai’s work: “ Your favor of July 28 is just recieved, and I now inclose you the print of Vespucius, which I have cut out of the book, & which is taken from the same original in the gallery of Florence from which my painting was taken . . . ”

This letter contains the passage relative to the portrait of Columbus “between the 4 ^th. & 5 ^th. parts of the great work of De Bry” quoted under De Bry’s Collection of Voyages, no. 3977.

Delaplaine acknowledged the receipt of the portrait on August 17: “I have been favoured with your obliging letter of the 9 ^th. instant, accompanied by another to M ^r. Gabriel Stuart, and at the same time received your engraved portrait of Americus Vespusius in perfect safety. For these marks of your kindness be pleased to accept my sincere thanks. The print of Vespucius is much admired by our artists, and is to be engraved in the line by one of our best engravers.

"Have the goodness to inform me what date the eulogium, from which the print is taken, bears. This will be mentioned with my engraving, & at the same time I shall also state that it was furnished by yourself, an attention which I conceive to be justly due to you . . .”

On August 28 Jefferson wrote to Delaplaine a long letter concerning the portraits of Columbus and Vespucci. With regard to the latter he wrote: “ . . . The book from which I cut the print of Vespucius which I sent you has the following title and date. ‘Elogio d’Amerigo Vespucci che ha riportato il premio dalla nobile accademia Etrusca de Cortona nel dì 15. d’Ottobre dell’anno 1788. del P. Stanislao Canovai delle scuole pie publico professore di fisica-Mathematica, in Firenze 1788. nella stamp. di Pietro Allegrini.’ this print is unquestionably from the same original in the gallery of Florence from which my copy was also taken. the portrait is named in the catalogue of Vasari, and mentioned also by Bandini in his life of Americus Vespucius, but neither gives it’s history--both tell us there was a portrait of Vespucius taken by Domenico, and a fine head of him by Da Vinci, which however are lost, so that it would seem that this of Florence is the only one existing . . . ”

Stanislao Canovai, 1740-1811, Italian scholar and monk, won with this work the annual prize founded by the Count de Dufort, ambassador from France in Tuscany. Canovai sustains the opinion that the discovery of America was due to Amerigo Vespucci and not to Christopher Columbus.