Priceless 500-year-old copy of Christopher Columbus' letter recovered in Delaware

A letter written by Christopher Columbus to the Spain’s King Ferdinand that disappeared decades ago in Italy has recently been found in Delaware, United States. The letter is believed to be 517 years old and details Christopher Columbus telling the Spanish King about his discoveries in the America.

Letter containing the details about the discoveries in the America

According to the sources, the letter is one of the few dozen authentic, reprinted copies of the explorer's original note. The note was handwritten by Columbus in Spanish in 1493. It was then reprinted in Latin by Roman printer Stephan Plannck. The discovery of the lost letter was announced by Homeland Security investigators and the US Attorney's Office in Delaware on Wednesday.

The letter was recovered from a private collector who had purchased it in 2003 in 'good faith'. It is valued at a whopping USD 1.3 million. After the discovery of the letter, Homeland Security investigator William Walker said that these culturally significant artefacts are given monetary value and traded but in reality the cultural and symbolic value of these objects, in this case, the letter, far surpasses any given value.

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Authorities in Delaware have ordered that the letter be returned to the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Italy. This particular letter, dubbed as Plannck's first edition is an exceptionally rare letter that details the discovery of the Americas.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean four times and discovered the New World (Americas) for conquest and permanent occupation by Europe.  Columbus had originally begun his journey in hopes of discovering a westward route to the Far East but instead found the Americas, that was till then unknown to the Old World.

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