A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot

First published anonymously in 1831, this is a fascinating biography of Sebastian Cabot (c.1481–1557), controversial explorer and cartographer.

Published in 1831 in response to efforts to discredit the explorer and cartographer Sebastian Cabot (c.1481–1557), this account aimed to counter the claims of those who thought him an imposter. It prompted further research into the Cabots, who initiated English trade beyond the confines of Europe.Richard Biddle (1796–1847), an American politician and lawyer, published this work on the life of the explorer and cartographer, Sebastian Cabot (c.1481–1557), anonymously in 1831. He was responding to widespread criticisms of Cabot - allegedly an unscrupulous character who played the governments of England and Spain to his own ends. The work includes notes on Sebastian's discoveries on the North American continent along with his father, John, and his search for the North-West Passage. As a governor of the Muscovy Company, Cabot initiated the expansion of English trade to Russia and the East. Cabot's own accounts of his journeys have been lost; therefore, Biddle's research is derived from other sources, particularly the writings of Richard Hakylut (c.1552–1616). This study was recognised at the time as the best review of the history of maritime discovery in the period treated, and prompted further research into the Cabot legacies.