The author has discovered among the manuscripts in the Burgerbibliothek in Bern 17 unknown letters by the Italian Alberto Fortis, a well-known figure in the Age of Enlightenment, written to the Swiss scholar Jacob Samuel Wyttenbach. Most of these letters contain some references to Fortis’s relations with Croats on the Adriatic coast. (1) The author analyses closely Fortis’s letter of 3rd Deoember 1777 because of several important h'nts throwing a new light on the first phase of a dispute started by the Croatian writer Ivan Lovrić (17541?]—1777) attacking in his book Osservazioni some statements pub’ished by Fortis in his Viaggio m Dalmazia. It is evident from this letter that Fortis supported the printing and disposing of a booklet Sermone, written by his friend P. Sclamer of Cres, and that Fortis and Sclamer are not one and the same person. (2) The above mentioned, as well as three more of Fortis’s letters disclose the Italian author’s concern for the German, French, and English translations of his Viaggio in Dalmazia. Fortis was interested in their publishing success not only as a scholar and Slavophile, but especially as a candidate for the Chair of natural science in the University of Padua (where he did not succeed). These translations are of a special significance to Croats, as by way of them, in only five years, the whole European world of learning got some information — although not always correct —■ about our culture and especially our popular baPadry. It is well known that Hasanaginica, published by Fortis in the orig nal and in Ital'an translation, became world famous after Goethe’s German version. The author concentrates on references to the poem in German scholarly periodicals of the t’me, showing that the Swiss poet A. von Haller had a very favourable opinion about the poem as early as 1775 and that he had suggested its translating before any other — except the Italian — translation was published. As it may be seen, Switzerland was in even this very instance true to her epithet of Helvetia mediatrix.
