By: Sammy Wang
A stolen 15th-century letter from Christopher Columbus was found in Delaware, United States, by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was an Italian explorer who came across the “New World,” which is now known as America, in search of better sea routes to the Spice Islands (Asia). Upon landing on a small island in the Bahamas, his crew met with the indigenous people, which led to European colonization and a destructive impact on indigenous groups.
Columbus wrote the letter to his patrons, Spain’s King Ferdinand, and Queen Isabella, informing them of his findings in America.
According to English translations, Columbus wrote, “I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard, no one making any resistance.”
Columbus also describes the island’s landscapehas perfect for agriculture and pasture. He also saw the Indians as “guileless and honest, and very liberal of all they have.”
Next, Columbus included that he had been trying to win the Indians over and convert them into Christians with “many beautiful and pleasing things” he had brought with him on the ship. Columbus and his country were Christians who believed in Jesus and God to wipe away their sins and lead them to a good life.
At the end of the letter, he thanks Jesus for his findings of “the increase of temporal prosperity, in which not only Spain but all Christendom is about to share.”
Columbus sent the letter to Rome, where it was reprinted in Latin, but the printer made a mistake by accidentally leaving Queen Isabella’s name out and reprinting the letter again. This caused two different editions of the letter: Plannck I and Plannck II.
The former was the one that was stolen.
The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (“Marciana National Library”) in Venice got the letter around 1875 and was stolen “at an unknown time between 1985 and 1988,” according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
with no further detail.
The HSI began the case when one of their agents got information in 2011 stating that there were multiple forgeries of Latin editions of the Columbus letter. The HSI retrieved three letters (all Plannck II) and returned them to Florence, Barcelona, and Vatican City.
In June 2018, the HSI got a list of all known Columbus letters from Paul Needham, a rare book expert from Princeton University, and found that the missing Plannck I Columbus letter stolen was likely the same letter in a privately owned library located in the U.S.
HSI was able to contact the owner of the library and recover the letter with no difficulties.
“I always take notes on the copies of the Columbus letters, so I went back to my notes,” Needham said. “Right away, I knew that this one copy in Texas had the exact dimensions of the copy that had been stolen from the Marciana.”
The letter was sent back to Italy.
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