Delaware Investigators Recovered a Rare Letter From Christopher Columbus
Apparently, this isn’t the first time!
A Delaware US Attorney’s Office assisted with the recovery of a stolen Christopher Columbus letter. The letter, valued at more than 1.3 million dollars, describes his discoveries in the Americas to the Italian Government. It was the fourth such case in Delaware since 2016!
The letter is commonly known as a Plannck I edition (“Columbus Letter-Plannck I”) and it’s rare because this first edition only mentions the King of Spain. The second edition, commonly known as Plannck II, acknowledges both the King and Queen of Spain.
A lengthy investigation determined that sometime around 1875, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, Italy acquired a copy of the Columbus Letter-Plannck I. Between 1985 and 1988, the letter was stolen from the library. Unlike other recovered Columbus letters, this one was not replaced with a forgery, it was missing from the library for decades!
A collector unknowingly purchased the letter from a rare book dealer in the United States. Following negotiations between the US Attorney’s Office and representatives for the individual in possession of the letter, the parties agreed to let someone from Princeton University to inspect the letter and evidence from the library in Venice. The inspection determined that the letter was, indeed, the stolen letter that belongs to the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. The person who purchased the Columbus Letter-Plannck I agreed to relinquish the title and interest in the letter.
