In 1493 the explorer Christopher Columbus sent a number of copies of the letter, written in various languages, to several European countries to spread the news of his discovery. It emerged that one of the originals had been stolen from the Riccardiana Library in Florence at least 23 years ago. However, the theft was not noticed until 2012 because the thieves had replaced the original with a forgery.
The original was sold to a collector who donated it to the Library of Congress in 2004.
A collaborative investigation by the US authorities and Italian police has seen the historic document returned to Italy.
Source: The Local.