Girolamo Sernigi was born in Florence in 1453. His father, Cipriano di Chimenti, was a member of the Clothiers' Guild, and was held in high respect by his fellow citizens. The family became extinct in 1680.

Girolamo was residing at Lisbon, where he had settled as a merchant, when Vasco da Gama's expedition returned from India. He remained there for many years afterwards, and in 1510 commanded a vessel which went out to Malacca with the fleet of Diogo Mendez de Vasconcellos.

In addition to the letters giving an account of the voyage of Vasco da Gama, he wrote others dealing with the trade between Portugal and India. Some of these will be found in the Diari of Marino Sanuto.

Manuscript copies of these letters exist in the Biblioteca Riccardiana, Florence (Codices 1910, f. 61, and 2112b), in the library of Mr. Ralph Sneyd, of Newcastle-under-Lyne, and possibly elsewhere. I am indebted to the mediation of Dr. R. Garnett and the kindness of Professor Biagi, chief librarian of the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenciana, at Florence, for a careful copy of Codex 1910. The MS. in the library of Mr. Sneyd formerly belonged to Count Soranzo of Venice, and Prof. Guglielmo Berchet of that city quotes passages from it in his valuable contribution to the “Raccolta Colombiana”. I regret to say that I failed in my endeavours to secure a copy of this valuable manuscript.