Historic 1493 letter on Columbus voyage is returned to Italy

The 8-page letter conveys Columbus' marvel at the fertile islands he found, "full of the greatest variety of trees reaching to the stars," and the timid natives who Columbus believed were ripe for conquest by Spain and conversion to Christianity.

The letter had been stolen from Florence's Riccardiana library and replaced with a forgery that no one noticed until Italian authorities in 2012 launched a broad investigation across Italy into plundered rare books following some high-profile thefts.

[...] U.S. officials said both the final owner and the Library acquired the letter in good faith, assuming its provenance was legitimate.

Gen. Mariano Mossa of the Carabinieri's art squad police said the two forgeries bore the same incompatibilities with the original: different typefaces and paper sizes, different pens and pencils used to number the pages, and the absence of the Florentine library stamp.

Contacts were immediately started with officials from the Homeland Security office, since the U.S. is a known destination stolen rare books, he said.