Another Stolen Columbus Letter Returned from America to its Rightful European Owner
- by Michael Stillman
The stolen Columbus Letter (U.S. Attorney Delaware photo).
In what seems to have become a distressingly common occurrence, yet another stolen Columbus Letter has made the journey over and back from Europe to America in recent years. This is the fourth time since 2016 a Columbus Letter stolen from an Italian or Spanish library has been discovered in America and returned to its rightful owner. That now equals the number of journeys of discovery Christopher Columbus himself made to the Americas. This particular copy was stolen from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. Unlike the previous three, no forgery was placed on the shelf to disguise the theft. It was just taken.
As generations of American children know, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. He returned the following a year with a letter for the King and Queen of Spain recounting his discoveries. Printings were made of that letter to tell others in Europe of the news, but the print runs were short. Of the various editions printed in the ensuing years, only about 80 copies are known to still exist. The Marciana was a special one, being a first edition, known as a Plannck I. It is the first edition printed by Stephan Plannck and is distinguishable from a Plannck II in that it is addressed to just King Ferdinand, while the second edition is addressed to both the King and Queen Isabella. The Plannck I has been estimated to be worth $1.3 million.
According to the U. S. Attorney's Office, District of Delaware, the Marciana Library acquired this Columbus Letter in or around 1875. It was stolen sometime between 1985-1988. If they know who took it, or where it was between then and 2003, they have not let on. In May of 2003, it was sold by an American dealer to a “good faith” collector. The names of these individuals were not released either. It is not surprising the buyer was in the dark as the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana had not even reported the letter missing at this time.
In 2019, authorities in the U.S. were contacted by their counterparts in Italy who suspected this was the Marciana copy. They requested the collector submit the letter to inspection by Dr. Paul Needham of Princeton University, an expert on the subject. The collector agreed to the inspection. Using information supplied by Italian authorities, including sewing marks, Dr. Needham determined that this was the Marciana copy. The collector voluntary released any claims to title of the letter.
Other copies of the Columbus letter recently returned from America to rightful European owners include a copy held by Mary Parsons, widow of David Parsons of Atlanta, who innocently purchased his copy in 2004 in New York. That copy was returned to the Vatican Library in 2018. That same year another copy was returned to the Library of Catalonia in Spain. In 2016, a copy held by the U.S. Library of Congress was returned to a library in Florence, Italy.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
