Columbus' original letter announcing ‘discovery’ of America to go under the hammer

A letter was written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 which changed the modern world's landscape.

“I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that the illustrious King and Queen, our sovereigns, gave me, where I discovered a great many islands, inhabited by numberless people,” Columbus wrote to royal treasurer Luis de Santángel, after writing back to Europe. “Of all, I have taken possession for their Highnesses,” he said.

The events mentioned in the letter of Columbus were “the first report of a voyage that really did change the world," said his biographer Professor Felipe Fernández-Armesto, while speaking to The Observer.

Letter likely to fetch $1.5 million at Christie’s auction

The rare 1493 Latin translation of Columbus' letter, which was printed on an early printing press to narrate the news of “discoveries” of the travellers to elite Europeans, is likely to fetch up to £1.2 million ($1.5 million) at a Christie’s auction this month.

“[In current times] Columbus has lost his former status as an honorary all-American hero and quasi-founding father, but notoriety rarely hurts one’s market value, especially in the US. Witness Donald Trump,” stated Fernández-Armesto.

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For the first time, the voyage of Columbus created “a viable, commercially exploitable route” across the Atlantic and started communications between long-sundered cultures on both sides of the ocean, said Fernández-Armesto.

In the letter, the rich natural assets which were found by Columbus on the islands were praised in the letter. The traveller also portrayed the “extraordinarily timid” native people he encountered there as “so unsuspicious and so generous” they are “like fools”.

“Like him or not, you can’t deny Columbus’s importance,” said Fernandez-Armesto, as reported by The Observer.

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For almost a century, the document was kept in a private Swiss collection and has been described by Christie’s as “the earliest obtainable edition of Columbus’s letter”, whose international publication led to one of the first “media frenzies” for the printed word.

“The significance of the letter is its wide diffusion, thanks to the printing press,” stated Professor Geoffrey Symcox from the University of California, Los Angeles, while speaking to The Observer.

Symcox said that the experts used cutting-edge technology of that era after which copies of the letter were sent to the Spanish crown to the courts of Europe to stake Spain’s claim. “The news circulated rapidly, not just through diplomatic channels but mercantile channels as well,” he added.

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