Editing Openai/69541e93-963c-8006-8646-ec89267bdcc0 (section)

==== Despite recounting the same events, the versions differ subtly in language. These differences arise from translation choices, editorial edits, and the evolution of the text from Verrazzano’s draft to Ramusio’s publication. ====

Tone and Cultural Interpretation: All versions convey Verrazzano’s remarkably open-minded and respectful tone toward the indigenous peoples. Verrazzano, a product of Renaissance humanism, judges the “novelties” he observes without prejudice. For instance, he dignifies native leaders with titles like “kings” and (in the Italian text) calls their headmen “gentiluomini” (“gentlemen”). The modern NHC translation renders those as “kings” and “attendants” or “followers,” but an introductory note emphasizes how striking it was that Verrazzano described tribal chiefs as kings and their followers as “gentlemen” for his European readers. This respectful nomenclature is consistent in the original and Ramusio’s version (which, written in literary Italian, likely preserved terms like re for king and gentiluomini for noblemen). The effect is to present the New World societies as organized and worthy of esteem – a tone far ahead of its time and maintained in all versions.

Nevertheless, each version’s phrasing reflects its origin:
* The Morgan manuscript (original Italian) shows a mix of elegant phrasing and awkward constructions. Scholars note “a strange mixture of Latinisms and barbarisms with pure Tuscan” in Verrazzano’s Italianupload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=of%20the%20transcriber%20hianchissimo%20is,in%20a%20great%20meas%02ure%20owing|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>. For example, he uses some archaic or oddly spelled words and inconsistent grammar/punctuation (perhaps because the draft was copied and annotated by different hands). An example is Verrazzano’s description of the Narragansett people as “di bronzina” (of bronze color) in one manuscript copy, which a transcriber’s error rendered as “bianchissimo” (very white) in another – an obvious mistake corrected by comparing versionsupload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=published%20by%20Ramusio%2C%20we%20were,the%20whole%20exhibits%20a%20strange|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>. Generally, though, the manuscript’s “general cast… is simple and not unpleasing”upload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=correcting%20the%20errors%20of%20language,by%20Ramusio%2C%20though%20it%20would|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>, reflecting Verrazzano’s straightforward narrative style.
* The NHC translation (Susan Tarrow/Wroth) is a faithful, scholarly translation of the Italian, aiming to preserve detail and nuance. It often sticks close to the structure of the original sentences. For instance, where Verrazzano writes of the first Americans, “di colore bruno, non molto differente da etiopi”, the NHC version says “dark in color, not unlike the Ethiopians”. The translator retains older or formal-sounding constructions (“we covered eight hundred leagues”; “we reassured them with various signs”) to echo the 16th-century tone. At times the NHC translation includes Verrazzano’s marginal notes integrated in brackets (e.g. the place-names Annunciata, Francesca, etc.). These insertions, italicized in the text, ensure no detail from the Codex is lost. The overall tone is one of measured, factual reporting, with occasional lyrical passages (e.g. describing the multicolored forests and fragrant cedars). It neither exaggerates nor downplays Verrazzano’s attitudes.
* Ramusio’s version is written in refined Renaissance Italian. Ramusio edited the phrasing of nearly every paragraph for linguistic eleganceupload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=with%20that%20part%20of%20the,of%20language%20upon%20his%20own|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>. He “worked the whole piece over,” standardizing spelling and grammar, and polishing clumsy phrasesupload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=of%20the%20transcriber%20hianchissimo%20is,in%20a%20great%20meas%02ure%20owing|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>. For example, if Verrazzano’s draft had run-on sentences or unclear pronouns, Ramusio likely clarified them. However, he did not alter the substance: “In substance there is no important difference [between Ramusio and the manuscript]” aside from one or two transcription errorsupload.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=upload.wikimedia.org|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/The_life_and_voyages_of_Verrazzano_.._%28IA_lifevoyagesofver00gree%29.pdf#:~:text=with%20that%20part%20of%20the,of%20language%20upon%20his%20own|publisher=upload.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-31}}</ref>. Thus, the voice in Ramusio remains Verrazzano’s, but cleaned up – more classical in style. An example can be seen in how each presents the same event: - NHC (Morgan) translation: “We saw many people on the beach making various friendly signs, and beckoning us ashore; and there I saw a magnificent deed… We sent one of our young sailors swimming ashore with some trinkets… he was… carried up onto the beach half dead. Seeing this, the native people immediately ran up… [They] made gestures of great admiration, looking at the whiteness of his flesh… They took off his shirt and… made a huge fire next to him, placing him near the heat… and then with the greatest kindness, they accompanied him to the sea…”. - Ramusio’s Italian (translated to English): “We saw many people on the shore making friendly signs for us to land, and I must relate to Your Majesty a deed of great humanity. One of our young men swam to the beach with some little gifts… but the waves threw him ashore half dead. Immediately the natives ran to him; they lifted him by his arms and legs and carried him away from the surf. The youth, finding himself being so carried off, cried out in terror, but they answered in their language to reassure him. They laid him down in the sun at the foot of a small hill and marveled at the whiteness of his flesh. They removed his wet clothes and built a large fire to warm him. Our men in the boat feared they might roast him for food; but after warming and reviving him, with great friendliness they led him safely back into the water, keeping hold of him until he reached the boat.” – This paraphrase of Ramusio (drawn from the same incident) shows essentially the same details as the NHC text, with slightly different wording (e.g. “deed of great humanity” vs “magnificent deed”). The tone is equally positive toward the natives. The differences in phrasing here are minor; they demonstrate Ramusio’s more narrative style (adding “I must relate…”) versus the more literal modern translation. Yet both convey Verrazzano’s admiration of the natives’ kindness.

One subtle tonal difference: Ramusio omitted or softened some of Verrazzano’s harsher descriptors. For example, when describing the hostile northerners, the manuscript calls them crude “bruti” who made “tutti i segni di disprezzo e vergogna che far può alcuna bestia” (all the signs of scorn and shame that any beast could make) – including exposing their buttocks. We do not have Ramusio’s exact wording here, but given his editorial approach, he likely kept the gist (the natives being discourteous and beastly) but possibly tidied the language. All versions clearly differentiate the “civil” tribes of the south from the “barbarous” ones of the north, reflecting common 16th-century views that climate influenced culture – a nuance in tone that comes through uniformly, if a bit more bluntly in the original.

Finally, each version’s language reflects purpose: the manuscript was a private draft (informal in places, with marginal addenda), while Ramusio’s was intended for publication (formal and clean). The NHC translation, meant for educational use, occasionally adds modern clarity – for instance, converting roman numerals and archaic units to modern terms in brackets (e.g. “XXV leagues (about 120 miles)”). But it scrupulously avoids imposing modern judgments, thus preserving Verrazzano’s tone. Overall, the tone across all versions is remarkably consistent in portraying Verrazzano’s respectful curiosity and the wonder of “another world,” with only minor shifts due to translation and editing conventions of different eras.