Henry Harrisse (May 28, 1829 – May 13, 1910) was a writer, lawyer, art critic, and American historian who authored books on the discovery of America and geographic representations of the New World.

Henry Harrisse
BornMay 28, 1829 Edit this on Wikidata
Paris Edit this on Wikidata
DiedMay 13, 1910 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 80)
Paris Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationJurist Edit this on Wikidata
The early Spanish and Portuguese computations of the Tordesillas Meridian, according to Harrisse.[1]

Biography

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Henry Harrisse was born Henry Herrisse in Paris on May 28, 1829. His father was Abraham Herrisse, a furrier, probably from Russia or Prague, and his mother was Nanine Marcus of Paris.[2][3] At the age of eighteen, he moved to America with his family and adopted American nationality, where he studied at the University of South Carolina. He began his academic career at the University of North Carolina, where he taught writing, philosophy, and law, though he was later released from his position due to his support of abolitionism. In following years, he worked as a lawyer in Chicago and New York,[4] before beginning his writing career. According to his biographer Henri Cordier, his early writings are devoted to Hippolyte Taine[5] and Renan, and the analysis of the metaphysical works of Descartes. Later in his life, he moved back to Paris[4] and turned his studies towards the origins of the modern Americas, a topic to which he was highly devoted.[3] This led to his exploration of records of the discovery of the Americas, and to his amassing of a substantial body of critical and historical works on this subject.

Harrisse was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1893.[6]

Bibliography

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The works of Henry Harrisse published in English, Latin, Spanish, and French:

  • Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima (1866)
  • Notes on Columbus (1866)
  • D. Fernando Colon (1871)
  • Notes sur la Nouvelle France (1872)
  • Jean et Sébastien Cabot (1882)
  • Les Corte-Reals (1883)
  • Christophe Colomb: Son Origine, Sa Vie, Ses Voyages, Sa Famille et Ses Descendants (1884)
  • The Discovery of North America (1892)
  • The Diplomatic History of America: Its First Chapter 1452–1493–1494, London: B.F. Stevens, 1897.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Harrisse (1897), p. frontis.
  2. ^ "Notes Georges Lubin in the index Correspondents' Correspondence of George Sand". Archived from the original on 2017-05-28. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  3. ^ a b Henry Vignaud (1911). "Henry Harrisse". Journal de la Société des Américanistes. 8. Journal of the Society of Americanists. Volume 8-1-2, 1911. pp. 286-288: 286–288. doi:10.3406/jsa.1911.3737. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b Plakas, Rosemary Fry (1987). "Henry Harrisse Collection" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Reid, Martine; Tillier, Bertrand (1999). The ABCs of George Sand:XVIIe-XIXe siècle: 1804-1999. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 9782080126771. This is the famous Magny dinners restaurant Sand and Taine (1828-1893 ) were to meet regularly and find themselves in the company of the American lawyer who presented the Henry Harisse perhaps one to another.
  6. ^ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory