By: Jessica Jin

Christopher Columbus’s letter that he sent to the King and Queen of Spain in 1492 was stolen sometime between 1985 and1988, but found in 2020 in Delaware and finally given back to Italy.

In 1492, Columbus was looking for a route to Asia. But he ended up finding what we now call North and South America. During this time, Columbus wrote what he saw during his journey to the Spanish rulers at the time, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had helped finance Columbus’s voyage across the ocean.

The letter is rare because it’s known as a Plannck I. In 1493, Stephan Plannck was meant to print Columbus’s letter in Latin when it was sent to Rome. Plannck accidentally left out Queen Isabella’s name in the first print, so he reprinted the letter quickly. The first print was known as Plannck I and the second print was known as Plannck II. The Plannck I edition of Columbus’s letter is much more rare than the second one. There were fewer copies of the first edition, and most Plannck I editions didn’t survive throughout the decades.

The Plannck I edition of Columbus’s letter found in Delaware is important to history.

Historians found this letter very valuable. When the news of Christopher Columbus’s letter first came out, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed the letter’s value at around $1.3 million. It gives extra information on unique perspectives, such as the observations that Columbus had of the native people that were living in America in 1492. Columbus described them as “destitute of arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted … because they are timid and full of terror.”

The letter is an important artifact that will teach historians much of what the world used to be. Columbus most likely intended the letter just to report back to Spain, but to the modern world, it’s a useful piece of the past. For that reason, it’s important for the letter to be returned to Italy.

Sources:

U.S. repatriates a stolen Christopher Columbus letter to Italy _ NPR.pdf (bubble.io)

Columbus reports on his first voyage, 1493 | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

A Christopher Columbus letter, missing for decades, heads home to Italy | CNN

District of Delaware | Stolen Letter of Christopher Columbus’ Historic Voyage To Americas Repatriated To Italian Government | United States Department of Justice