Note 74 — Chapter I

In the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society for October, 1881, Mr. George Dexter has traced the publication of this alleged extract from Fabian to an earlier date than had usually been assigned to it. It was published by Stow, in his Annals, in 1580, together with the paragraph relating to the savage men said to have been brought home by Sebastian Cabot, and also printed by Hakluyt in 1582. They were also printed in the second edition of Holinshed, 1586-87. The Cotton manuscript, Vitellius, A. xvi., has been re-examined, and proves not to be a Fabian. Mr. Dexter has printed the two extracts from it, the latter, relating to the “savage men,” for the first time. In the Cotton collection, Nero, C. xi., is a genuine Fabian, but it contains nothing about Cabot. The conclusion to which I have arrived from this examination by Mr. Dexter is, that the Vitellius manuscript was not the original used by Stow and Hakluyt. They give facts and details not to be found in that manuscript; and this remark will particularly apply to the extract relating to the three savage men, which in the Vitellius is brief and meagre. Both Stow and Hakluyt must have used a genuine Fabian manuscript yet to be discovered. For though neither would probably hesitate to add or change a name or a date, if he thought he had sufficient authority for so doing, they would not manufacture a narrative.