Fake old books are rare, as it’s very expensive, and thus hardly profitable to forge one. Yet there are a few documents that are worth the effort—the letter Columbus sent to the Court of Spain when returning from his first voyage is one of them. Christie's sold a copy last month for $3.9 million (fee included). Worth forging, indeed—or stealing.
Columbus wrote: “I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King...” A few words for man, but a giant leap for mankind. “The letter was written in Spanish and sent to Rome, where it was printed in Latin by Stephan Plannck,” the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History reads. “Plannck mistakenly left Queen Isabella’s name out of the pamphlet’s introduction but quickly realized his error and reprinted the pamphlet a few days later.” Spain had to make sure the Pope and all European powers would acknowledge the discovery. Consequently, this incredible 8-page document was profusely printed and distributed all over Europe. There are very few copies left—around 30 in various institutions worldwide, and two or three in private hands (there’s only one known copy in Spanish, kept at the New York Public Library). Christies’ sold a copy last month for $3.9 million. It was listed in their catalogue as follows: “COLUMBUS, Christopher (1451-1506). Epistola Christofori Colom: cui etas nostra multu[m] debet: de Insulis Indie supra Gangem nuper inve[n]tis. Translated by Leandro di Cosco. [Rome: Stephan Plannck, after 29 April 1493.]” Then the description reads: “The Columbus Letter is a slim, ephemeral document which was printed to convey the news of the moment; extremely few copies survive outside of institutional libraries. Not since 1966, in the Thomas W. Streeter sale has a copy been offered at auction which has provenance dating back over 50 years.” The copy Christie’s sold the other day came from an anonymous private collection in Switzerland—and they were very careful this time.
“The last time Christie’s sold a copy (...) was in 1992, and it did not end well. It later emerged that the document had been stolen, and it was eventually repatriated to Italy,” Julia Jacobs underlines in the New York Times (Oct. 2023). “That wasn’t the only one,” she adds. “Since the early 1990s, four other examples of the Latin-translated document that came on the market were discovered to have been stolen...” A library in Fermo, Italy, claimed a copy sold by Sotheby’s in 1992 as stolen, and retrieved it. In July 2023, the US returned a copy that ”was revealed to have been stolen some time between 1985 and 1988, likely from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the historic public library in Venice,” The Guardian reads. “It was in the possession of a private collector from Texas, who said he obtained it in 2003 from a rare book dealer.” Paul Needham, an old book expert who had previously seen the letter, was able to identify it thanks to “the unique position of the sewing holes from when it was originally bound in a book.” Talk about the importance of details! The original had been copied then replaced by a fake letter. All these years, the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence, “unknowingly displayed a forged copy.” Forgery can be an art too. And it wasn’t the only occurrence. At least four other letters were stolen and replaced by fake copies over the years in various libraries. Now, the one sold by Christies’ last month is allegedly clean. “The auction house said it had spent months performing due diligence on this volume,” Julia Jacobs states, before quoting Jay Dillon, a rare book expert: “Christie’s has done its homework.” Nevertheless, no one knows about the whereabouts of this copy before it ended up in Switzerland.
Columbus’s achievement is highly criticized nowadays—the discoverer has become a murderer and a thief. He died some 500 years ago, and some are still spitting at his statues. The rewriting of history has started. Heroes turn villains as we judge people from the 15th century according to our current standards. Some say it’s justice—yet it would be wise for everyone to “do their homework” over this delicate topic. Some versions of history that are currently displayed might be nothing but another forgery.
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.
