Serendipity language was by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann, Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made about a (lost) painting of Bianca Cappello by Giorgio Vasari by reference to a Persian fairy tale, "The Three Princes of Serendip". The princes, he told his correspondent, were "always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of". The name comes from "Serendip", an old name for Sri Lanka (Ceylon), hence "Sarandib" by Arab traders. It is derived from the Sanskrit "Siṃhaladvīpaḥ" (Siṃhalaḥ, Sri Lanka + dvīpaḥ, island).
Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet well known, although his close friendship with the painter Thomas Patch (expelled from Rome after a homosexual incident) reflected on his reputation. He met Horace Walpole (to whom he was distantly related) in 1739, and conducted a now-renowned correspondence with him over forty years, though they last met in 1741. The correspondence was published by Lord Dover in 1833. In recognition of his service he was created a baronet on 3 March 1755. and made a Knight of the Bath on 26 October 1768. (when his nephew Horace stood proxy). In 1775, on the death of his elder brother, Edward