被盗的哥伦布信件被送回梵蒂冈

Stolen Columbus Letter Returned to Vatican

A 525-year-old copy of a letter by Christopher Columbus, stolen from the Vatican, was returned this week. An investigation¹ by the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Vatican located the letter.

“We are returning it to its rightful owner,” said U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Callista Gingrich, at a ceremony in the Vatican Library.

Columbus wrote the letter to the king and queen of Spain after discovering “The New World.” He described what he had found and requested money for another trip.

His original letter was written in Spanish. But several copies of a Latin translation were made to spread news of his discovery to the royal courts of Europe and the Pope.

One of the Latin letters, copied by Stephan Plannack in 1493, was put in the Vatican Library. Known as the Columbus Letter, it has eight pages, each about 18.5 cm by 12 cm.

In 2011, an American expert in rare manuscripts received a similar looking letter. After reviewing it, he decided² that it was real.

The year before, the same expert had studied a Columbus Letter in the Vatican Library and suspected that it was a fake. One reason was that the stitching marks on the letter were not the same as those on the cover.

The letter in the United States, however, had the exact same stitching marks as the leather cover of the fake letter he had studied in the Vatican.

The expert, who was not identified, contacted Homeland Security art investigators³, who began working with Vatican inspectors⁴ and rare book experts.

They believed that someone took the real letter out of its cover at the Vatican Library and replaced it with a fake one.

Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues is the Vatican’s chief librarian. He said, “We do not know exactly when the substitution took place. We will probably never know who the forger⁵ was.”

Their investigations⁶ found that Marino Massimo De Caro, a well known “Italian book thief”, had sold the real letter to a New York book dealer⁷.

De Caro is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Italy for stealing about 4,000 ancient books and manuscripts from Italian libraries and private collections.

The late collector David Parsons bought the letter for $875,000 in 2004. After the investigations, his widow agreed to return the letter to the Vatican Library.

Officials said the letter is now worth about $1.2 million.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

library –n. a place were books and other media are available for people to use and borrow

manuscript – n. the original copy of a play, book, piece of music, etc., before it has been printed

stitch – n. a piece of thread that is passed through a piece of material with a needle

leather – n. animal skin that is chemically treated to preserve it and that is used in making clothes, shoes, furniture, etc.

substitution –n. something that is used in place of something else

forger – n. someone who makes or copies (something, such as a document or signature) falsely in order to deceive someone

dealer –n. someone who sells something

widow – n. a woman whose husband has died

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 forger   

v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者

参考例句：

• He admitted seven charges including forging passports.他承认了7项罪名，其中包括伪造护照。
• She alleged that Taylor had forged her signature on the form.她声称泰勒在表格上伪造了她的签名。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。