MULTIZ321
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BLUEWATER BY SPINNAKER HHI
ROYAL HOLIDAY CLUB RHC (POINTS)
Stolen Christopher Columbus Letter Returned to Vatican, But Mystery Persists
By Brigit Katz/ Smart News: Keeping You Current/ Smithsonian/ smithsonianmag.com
"The letter, which had been printed in 1493, was replaced with a convincing fake—and investigators still don’t know who committed the crime.
In 1921, the Vatican Apostolic Library acquired an extraordinary document: a copy of a letter that Christopher Columbus wrote in 1493, describing his first impressions of the Caribbean islands to the Spanish monarchy. Some 90 years later, American officials contacted the library with jarring news. The letter in the Vatican’s collection, they suspected, had been stolen and replaced with a near-perfect fake.
As Elisabetta Povoledo reports for the New York Times, the original document was ultimately located in Atlanta, Georgia, and returned to the Vatican last week. But questions continue to swirl around this strange case. Officials still do not know when the letter was stolen, or by whom. They also are unsure if the Vatican theft is connected to similar crimes that took place in two other libraries.
The eight-page letter, which has been valued at $1.2 million, is a copy of a message that Columbus penned, in Spanish, to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. In his letter, Columbus describes a land “full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky” and a native population who “firmly believed that I, with my ships and men, came from heaven,” according to Povoledo....."
An authentic copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus as displayed at the Vatican. The United States is returning to the Vatican Library a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 announcing his discovery of the New World that was stolen and replaced with a forgery. (Tony Gentile/Pool Photo via AP)
Richard
By Brigit Katz/ Smart News: Keeping You Current/ Smithsonian/ smithsonianmag.com
"The letter, which had been printed in 1493, was replaced with a convincing fake—and investigators still don’t know who committed the crime.
In 1921, the Vatican Apostolic Library acquired an extraordinary document: a copy of a letter that Christopher Columbus wrote in 1493, describing his first impressions of the Caribbean islands to the Spanish monarchy. Some 90 years later, American officials contacted the library with jarring news. The letter in the Vatican’s collection, they suspected, had been stolen and replaced with a near-perfect fake.
As Elisabetta Povoledo reports for the New York Times, the original document was ultimately located in Atlanta, Georgia, and returned to the Vatican last week. But questions continue to swirl around this strange case. Officials still do not know when the letter was stolen, or by whom. They also are unsure if the Vatican theft is connected to similar crimes that took place in two other libraries.
The eight-page letter, which has been valued at $1.2 million, is a copy of a message that Columbus penned, in Spanish, to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. In his letter, Columbus describes a land “full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky” and a native population who “firmly believed that I, with my ships and men, came from heaven,” according to Povoledo....."
An authentic copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus as displayed at the Vatican. The United States is returning to the Vatican Library a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 announcing his discovery of the New World that was stolen and replaced with a forgery. (Tony Gentile/Pool Photo via AP)
Richard