MUFONET-BBS GROUP  -  MUTUAL UFO NETWORK
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                   ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS - WIRE
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³=START=   XMT: 14:00 Thu Mar 26  EXP: 14:00 Thu Apr 02      ³
³                                                            ³
³RARE COPY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS' LETTER TO BE AUCTIONED   ³
³                                                            ³
³MADRID (MARCH 26) XINHUA - ONE OF THE WORLD'S EXTREMELY RARE³
³COPIES OF THE FIRST LATIN EDITION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS'  ³
³LETTER ON THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA WILL BE AUCTIONED IN     ³
³PARIS ON MARCH 30, IT WAS LEARNED HERE TODAY.               ³
³                                                            ³
³IN THIS LETTER, COLUMBUS INFORMED THE CATHOLIC KING AND     ³
³QUEEN ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.                       ³
³                                                            ³
³THE COPY OF THE FIRST LATIN EDITION, CONTAINED IN A BOOK    ³
³PUBLISHED IN ROME IN 1493, BELONGS TO THE PRIVATE COLLECTION³
³OF A WELL-KNOWN FRENCH COLLECTOR WHO PREFERS TO REMAIN      ³
³ANONYMOUS BEHIND THE INITIALS M.C.                          ³
³                                                            ³
³BERNARD CLAVREUIL M. CLAVREUIL, A RENOWNED SPECIALIST, SPOKE³
³OF THAT BOOK IN THESE TERMS: 'AT THE MOST, IN THE WHOLE     ³
³WORLD, THERE ARE NO MORE THAN 20 COPIES OF THAT BOOK IN THAT³
³EDITION, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE. IN THE   ³
³UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THERE ARE AROUND A DOZEN COPIES.  ³
³IN ITALY IT IS POSSIBLE, PERHAPS, TO FIND A FEW COPIES.     ³
³UNDOUBTEDLY A FEW EXIST IN LIBRARIES IN EASTERN EUROPE WHICH³
³ARE PRACTICALLY UNKNOWN.'                                   ³
³                                                            ³
³A COPY OF THAT BOOK WAS SOLD OVER 10 YEARS AGO FOR 650,000  ³
³FRANCS (ABOUT 120,000 U.S. DOLLARS). TODAY IN NEW YORK,     ³
³ANOTHER COPY IS OFFERED IN A FAMOUS CATALOGUE AT THE PRICE  ³
³OF 650,000 U.S. DOLLARS.                                    ³
³                                                            ³
³CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 1451-1506, WAS A GENOESE NAVIGATOR WHO³
³DISCOVERED AMERICA IN 1492.                                 ³
³                                                            ³
³=END=                                                       ³