$100-million collection goes to library

When the Library of Congress announced last year that its quest to purchase an extremely rare and valuable New World map from a German prince had succeeded -- at a cost of $10 million -- it came with a flutter of regret.

The 1507 map, by famed cartographer Martin Waldseemuller, had been bound with another early 16th century Waldseemuller map, and the library had been unable to raise $4 million to buy it as well. The two maps had been at the library, contingent on final purchase, since 2001.

Enter Jay Kislak, a Florida real estate financier and philanthropist with a yen for all things connected to the early Americas. Kislak jetted off to the prince’s castle in Germany and negotiated the purchase of the map, called the Carta Marina.

Now, in a major donation, Kislak’s foundation plans to give the Carta Marina -- and approximately 4,000 other artifacts relating to the early Americas -- to the Library of Congress for exhibition and research. The Kislak Collection, which contains maps, books and artworks, has been appraised at more than $100 million, Kislak said.