fifteenth century my heart
overflowed; forgetting all prudence I laughed aloud, exclaiming
"splendid," "wonderful," "what a treasure!" But it would have been
beyond all human power to stand speechless, for, as I read on, I found
things which far exceeded my fondest expectations. The writer of these
pages had not been content, like the other chroniclers of her time
and of her native town-such as Ulman Stromer, Andres Tucher and their
fellows--to register notable facts without any connection, the family
affairs, items of expenditure and mercantile measures of her day; she
had plainly and candidly recorded everything that had happened to her
from her childhood to the close of her life. This Margery had inherited
some of her father's artistic gifts; he is mentioned in Ulman Stromer's
famous chronicle, where he is spoken of as "the Singer." It was to her
mother, however, that she owed her bold spirit, for she was a Behaim,
cousin to the famous traveller Behaim of Schwarzbach, whose mother is
known to have been one of the Schopper family, daughter to Herdegen
Schopper.

In the course of a week I had not merely read the manuscript, but
had copied a great deal of what seemed to me best worth preservation,
including the verses. I subsequently had good reason to be glad that
I had taken so much pains, though travelling about at the time; for a
cruel disaster befel the trunk in which the manuscript was packed, with
other books and a few treasures, and which I had sent home by sea.
The ship conveying them was stranded at the mouth of the Elbe and my
precious manuscript perished miserably in the wreck.

The nine stitched sheets, of which the last was written by the hand of
Margery Schopper's younger brother, had found their way to Venice--as
was recorded on the last page--in the possession of Margery's
great-grandson, who represented the great mercantile house of Im Hoff on
the Fondaco, and who ultimately died in the City of St. Mark. When that
famous firm was broken up the papers were separated from their cover
and had finally fallen into the hands of the curiosity dealer of whom
I bought them. And after surviving travels on land, risk of fire, the
ravages of worms and the ruthlessness of man for four centuries, they
finally fell a prey to the destructive fury of the waves; but my memory
served me well as to the contents, and at my bidding was at once ready
to aid me in restoring the narrative I had read. The copied portions
wer