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A printed letter from Christopher Columbus about the discovery of America sold at Christie’s for over $3.9 million (excluding auction fees). The eight-page epistle De Insulis Nuper Inventis, addressed by Columbus to King Ferdinand II of Spain and Queen Isabella, comes from a private Swiss collection and the auction house says it has done extensive research to ensure it is not a fake or has been stolen. In July another version of the incunabulum stolen from Marciana and ended up in the hands of a Dallas collector was returned to Italy.