Note 1176 — Chapter XII · REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY

Opus majus, Bridges’ edit., vol. i, 1897, p. 292. Pierre d’Ailly (1350–1420), the famous French theologian, in his Imago mundi, an encyclopedic compilation of the same sort as the De imagine mundi of our period, plagiarized the work of Roger Bacon in this connection. The Imago mundi was read and annotated by Columbus, and in this way the idea that the eastern shores of Asia lie not far to the west of Spain was brought to the attention of the discoverer of America. See Henry Vignaud, Histoire critique de la grande enterprise de Christophe Colomb, 2 vols., 460reference in vol. i, Paris, 1911, pp. 315–316; Edward Channing, A History of the United States, vol. i, New York, 1905, p. 15.