Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    A stolen Christopher Columbus letter found in Delaware returns to Italy decades later

    A rare copy of a letter from Columbus to Spain's royals detailing his voyage vanished from a Venice museum in the 1980s. U.S. authorities have repatriated it to Rome after a yearslong investigation.
    by Rachel Treisman Jul 21, 2023 4 minutes
    After Columbus wrote the letter in 1493, it was reprinted in Latin and circulated across Europe. Several copies have resurfaced in the U.S., including this one stolen from Venice in the 1980s.

    A 15th-century Christopher Columbus letter is finally back in Italy, decades after it disappeared from a Venice library and years after it resurfaced in Delaware.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it repatriated the letter to Rome on Wednesday following a "multifaceted international investigation."

    "This is the fourth original edition of this letter stolen over the past decades and we could not be happier to return it," Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner said in a statement.

    Columbus wrote it in 1493 to his patrons, Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, describing his findings in the Americas. The letter was sent to Rome and reprinted in Latin as a pamphlet that ended up in libraries across Europe.

    This particular letter is the most rare of in 2020.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Trump VP Contender Kristi Noem Responds To Backlash Over Story About Killing Her Dog
    The Republican South Dakota governor details what she says was a tough decision to shoot an "untrainable" family dog in a forthcoming memoir. Animal rights advocates and Democrats decried the move.
    NPR4 min readAmerican Government
    Gaza Protestors Picket White House Correspondents Dinner, As Biden Ribs Trump
    The war in Gaza spurred large protests outside a glitzy roast with President Joe Biden, journalists, politicians and celebrities Saturday but went all but unmentioned by participants inside.
    NPR5 min read
    As National Poetry Month Comes To A Close, 2 New Retrospectives To Savor
    April always brings some of the years' biggest poetry collections. So as it wraps up, we wanted to bring you two favorites — retrospective collections from Marie Howe and Jean Valentine.

    Related Books & Audiobooks