Stolen Christopher Columbus letter returns to ItalyMay 21, 2016 - 17:12 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A letter penned by Christopher Columbus in 1493 was returned to its rightful resting place in Italy Wednesday, ending a years-long investigation into its theft and forgery, AFP reports. The rare missive in which the Italian explorer describes his voyage to the Americas was tracked down several years ago in the Library of Congress in Washington. "Five hundred years after it was written, the letter has made the same trip back from America," Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said at a ceremony in Rome to mark the handover, thanking US authorities for helping to return the precious document. Columbus wrote the original letter to his patrons King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, a year after embarking on his historic journey across the Atlantic. The explorer likely drafted the letter while voyaging back to Europe, dating it March 4, 1493, the day he landed in Lisbon. The letter was then translated into Latin, the lingua franca of the time, and copies were made for distribution around Europe where it played a key role in expanding knowledge of the "New World." Eleven copies were made in 1493 and six others between 1494 and 1497. The printer Stephan Plannck published two of the first editions in Rome, and one copy became the property of the Riccardiana Library in Florence. At an unknown date, it was stolen from there and replaced with a forgery. After receiving a tip off alerting them to the fraud in 2010, American investigators confirmed that a New York-based antiquarian book dealer had bought the letter in 1990. Two years later it sold at auction for $300,000 to a buyer who donated it to the Library of Congress. The file on the original theft remains open. The stolen letter will return to Florence and go on public display. No one knows what happened to the original Spanish text. Top stories Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |