By: Tristan Chow

Have you ever heard of the man who “discovered” the “new world”? You probably have. His name is Christopher Columbus and he is well known for coming upon the “new world” while trying to look for a new trade route to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands.

Well, recently a stolen Christopher Columbus letter found in Delaware found its way back to Italy decades later. The letter mysteriously disappeared from the Venice library and just ended up in Delaware. Deputy Director Patrick Lechleiter stated,”This is the fourth original edition of this letter stolen over the past decades and we could not be happier to return it”. This shows how much the people value this treasure and were extremely happy to have it returned back.

Columbus wrote the letter in 1493 to Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel to explain his findings in America. This particular letter was one of the rarest ones because it was a first edition. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement valued the letter around 1.3 million dollars, when it was found back in 2020. Each letter from Columbus has a dollar value, but they are truly priceless because they show characteristics of indigenous people, and their perspective. Imagine you discovered an old letter from over 500 years ago: You could learn so much about the past which may help you currently. This is why old artifacts are extremely valuable.

In fact, did you know that Columbus wasn’t really looking for America? He was looking for faster routes around. Imagine how the world would be if he had never “discovered” America. People say that Leif Erikson was truly the first person to discover America, yet others say people found it way back 10000 years ago. What do you think?