The Discovery of the Ancient City of Norumbega: A Communication to the President and Council of the American Geographical Society at their Special Session in Watertown, November 21, 1889

Horsford, Eben Norton. The Discovery of the Ancient City of Norumbega: A Communication to the President and Council of the American Geographical Society at their Special Session in Watertown, November 21, 1889. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890. Quarto. 42pp. Original printed wraps. Some pages unopened, as issued. Facsimile of a letter from 1890 by E. N. Horsford to Chief Justice Daly, who was the President of the American Geographical Society in the latter part of the 19th century. The letter recounts the discovery of Norumbega. The ancient city was a legendary settlement in northeastern North America, inextricably connected with attempts to demonstrate Viking incursions in New England. Eben Norton Horsford (1818-1893) was an American scientist who is known for his interest in Viking settlements in America, and the monuments he built to Leif Erikson. He was determined to prove that North America had been discovered not by a Mediterranean Catholic, but by an Aryan. He wrote many books, articles and pamphlets about the Viking’s visits to Massachusetts. After his death, his daughter Cornelia took up the cause. Heavy water staining and soiling on wraps, parts of edges chipped with few closed tears. Edges of wraps brittle. Wraps in poor, interior in overall very good condition. g. Softcover. (27439) $65