Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-20
COLLEGE SECU7 ES
A GREAT PRIZE
BOOK TELLS HOW COLUMBUS
DISCOVERED AMERICA
Is Four Hundred Years Old and Now
in "Americana" Owned by Brown
niversity-ColIectio Valued
at a Million Dollars
Special to The Herald.

special 10 Inc Herald
PROVIDENCE, Jan. 19.-Up to
short time ago thin little volume
of sixteen leaves. known as The Lii
bretto.' and prized as one of the treas
ures of the San Marco library in Ven
ice, was supposed to be unique. 1t
was, and is, very important as a doc
ument, because it contains practically
all our knowledge of the third voyage
of Christopher Columbus in which the
great explorer first discovered the
South American continent and followed
ITS coast line for some hundreds of
miles. As the only surviving copy
as it was believed, of q work printed
at Venice in 1904 from material con-
tained in some letters by Peter Martyr
ono of the courtieTs in attendance on
the Spanish sovereign it was valued
as few books are.
Not many months ago, however a
distinguished photographer and book
seller of the Italian city of Florence
happened upon an ancient volume
bound in fragments of medieval manu-
/ script With its corners all nibbled away
| by mice. on examination he found
that it consisted in the main of a sea-
mans guide, printed at Venice in 1890
such one as Columbus himself may
have been familiar with before he
undertook his memorable voyage in
| 1892. Bound with this 'pOrtOlanO" as
| it is called, was, according to a fashion
that was common in the days of thes
/ renaissance, a perfect copy of the long
sought Librctto of 1904. From the copy
in Venice the title page is missing;
this has it in perfect state of preser-
/ walton.
knowing that he had unearthed a
treasure the bookseller forthwith COM
muniCatcd by cable with the John Car
ter Brown library, Providence, for he
| knew, as all students of American his
tory know, that the library of Amcri-
cana or early American books and au-
toGraph letters, now connected with
Brown university is the most complete
collection of its kind in the world, and
that the rare volume would unqucs-
tionably BE- wanted i'm Providence, if
the means for its purchase We're at
hand.
The photographer had judged wisely.
A message was hastily wired back to
Florence to accept the proposition that
the LibrettO become at once the prop
erty of the John Carter Brown library,
the authorities of which have the ann
bilious design Of securing either copy
or fac-simile of everything printed
in or about North or South America
from Columbus discovery through the
year 1900,
Just in Time
The cable message, it may be added,
arrived i'm the nick of time, for a rumor
of the discovery had got abroad and
kilograms were pouring iu from liz
bralles and individual collectors of
Europe, The photographer was shortly
after visited by a famous book seller
of Paris who sought TO secure the
treasure, and a little later by a gentle
man from Brazil owner of one of the
best South American libraries, who
made the trip to Florence for the eN-
press purpose Of securing the book, if
possible.
The incident illustrates the internal
tional reputation which foresight cX-
tending over the past three-quarcrs of
Il century has brought 10 this Collec-
ton of books either printed i'm America
or i'm Europe about the American colo
MES prior TO the beginning Of the nine
tecuth century, Begun as private Ii
brary by John Garter Brown of the
class of 1916 at Brown university en-
larged by his widow and his sons, the
late John Nicholas and Harold Brown
and recently bequeathed TO Brown uni
Vorsity, it has value which cannot be
estimated i'm terms of money though
Mr. Francis w, Halsey, author of The
DcuRe of Books" has asserted that if
it were put on sale it would bring at