RBMS Security Committee: Theft Reports 1999-2000
This is a list of incidents reported in the public media and on open listservs, such as Exlibris. The "Incidents of Theft" list was begun in 1987 and is updated by a member of the RBMS Security Committee. Although known to be incomplete, the list does provide an indication of the extent and variety of reported and alleged thefts. For reports in the Exlibris electronic discussion list since April 1991, consult the list archives.
The following list contains notices of thefts that occurred or were reported from January 1999 to December 2000. For additional coverage or for information on how to report notices for possible inclusion on the list, please consult the cumulative index.
2000
December 2000
- Former Egerton (Wisconsin) Public Library Director Marylou Pierce Smith was sentenced to a five-year term of probation for the theft of more than 400 library books and audiovisual material. Smith was also ordered to return the stolen material, pay restitution and seek treatment and counselling.
Source, American Libraries, November 2000, pp. 18-20; February 2001, p. 22. Museum Security Network, May 24, 2000.
- Microfilms of the prominent African-American weekly, the Chicago Defender, covering the years 1905-1939, were reported apparently stolen from the library at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). It was discovered that similar reels had also disappeared from the University of Illinois at Chicago library. Replacement costs were estimated at $16,000.
Source: American Libraries, December 2000, p. 25
November 2000
- More than 350 books and documents, most of them about the Civil War, were stolen from the Vermont Department of Libraries in Montpelier, VT. The theft was discovered when employees discovered empty shelves in the stacks. Among the missing items was a 10-volume pictorial history of the Civil War, unit diaries and regimental histories. More valuable materials kept under locked and key were not taken. Missing books were marked with the state library seal.
Source, American Libraries, January 2001, p. 32; Barre-Montpelier Times Argus¸ November 30, 2000
September 2000
- Kevin P. Gildea pleaded guilty to the theft of four books from the Stone Library, Adams National Historic Site. The books, which came from the collection of former president John Quincy Adams, included a Bible presented to Adams by Mendi tribesmen in commemoration of his representation on their behalf before the Supreme Court in the Amistad case; a 1772 Bible that had belonged to his wife, Louisa Catherine Adams; a 1521 Latin Bible, printed in Germany, the oldest book in the Adams collection; and Block's Ichthyology, 1785. The theft took place November 11, 1996.
Source: American Libraries, November 2000; Book_Arts-L archives, March 26, 1998; Museum Security Network.
May 2000
- A 12th-century Latin manuscript containing about forty "Treatises on Medicine," was returned to the National Library of Medicine and put on display. Originally acquired by the NLM in 1921, the manuscript, sometimes known as "Recepta Varia" or "Manuscript 8," disappeared in the 1940's. The volume resurfaced in 1998 in the estate sale of former NLM librarian Claudius Francis Mayer. B&L Rootenberg Rare Books purchased the manuscript from another dealer, and in turn offered it for sale to the Wellcome Library in London. When a librarian there identified the provenance of the manuscript, it was returned. The NLM expressed its appreciation to Richard Aspin of the Wellcome Library, to the Rootenberg family and to others who had assisted in the return.
Source: NLM Newsline, April-June 2000, Vol. 55, No. 2; American Libraries, August 2000, p. 24.
- Paul Northrop was indicted for stealing numerous historical documents from the University of Arizona/Tucson Special Collections and from the Arizona Historical Society. The FBI arrested Northrop in El Paso, Texas, and was charged with "theft of an object of cultural heritage" and "transportation of stolen goods." The documents dated from between 1862 and 1889, and included an oath of office signed by Judge Roy Bean and a U.S. Army commission bearing Abraham Lincoln's signature. The thefts allegedly took place in 1998 and 1999.
Source: Press release, May 30, 2000, Office of the US Attorney, District of Arizona; American Libraries, August 2000, p. 24.
March 2000
- A major theft from Harvard-Yenching Library was discovered March 14, 2000, although the news was not made public until October 2000. Harvard Magazine reported that 33 books, a handwritten scroll, a painting in the form of a hanging scroll, and 10 individual volumes (comparable to chapters) from 10 sets of books were missing. The scrolls are unique and some of the early books, printed from carved woodblocks, are the only known extant copies. The books, taken from small boxes stored in a combination safe, were valued at more than $1M. In May 2000, a list of the missing titles was circulated to law enforcement agencies and to rare book dealers.
Source: Exlibris electronic discussion list (28 June 2000) Part I, Part II; Harvard Magazine, January-February 2001; American Libraries, December 2000, p. 22.
February 2000
- An Agence France Presse report dated February 4, 2000 stated that a copy of Copernicus's "De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestius, along with 23 other volumes dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, had been stolen from the Library of the Russian Science Academy in St. Petersburg. However, background details of the story were not completely accurate, according to Copernicus expert, Owen Gingerich.
Source: Museum Security Network, February 7, 2000
- Letters written by Ulysses S. Grant were reported missing from the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale on February 11, 2000. One letter could not be located in response to an enquiry from the National Archives, and a second letter was discovered to be missing following a search.
Source: American Libraries, April 2000, p. 27; The Egyptian (SIU), February 15, 2000.
January 2000
- Eleven rare volumes were stolen from the Heritage Room at Mudd Library, Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) when unknown thieves broke into a locked cabinet on January 17, 2000. Among the items stolen were lavishly illustrated nature books and books of the seventeenth century. The college worked with law enforcement authorities to alert rare book dealers throughout the state, but no suspects were identified.
Source: American Libraries, March 2000, p. 21.
1999
September 1999
- Prosecutors in the southern city of Krakow confirmed Monday they are
investigating the theft of antique books and maps reportedly worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars from the prestigious Jagiellonian Library.
Spokeswoman Malgorzata Wilkosz-Sliwa declined to give any more details on
what she called the ''sad fact of the disappearance of ancient
publications,'' saying the Krakow prosecutor's office planned to release
more information later this week.
However, the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper reported prosecutors have given
antiques shop owners a list of more than 50 missing books worth millions of
zlotys (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars). It said the theft was discovered in
April, but none of the books have been found.
The Government Protection Office, an intelligence unit, has also been
informed of the disappearance of six atlases and 500 maps from the 18th and
19th centuries, Gazeta said. Officials at Jagiellonian University have ordered a
complete inventory of the library's 130,000 old volumes and the installation of a new security
system, the head of the university, Franciszek Ziejka, told private Radio
Zet. He said the thief had removed the books while leaving the covers behind,
stuffed with other books. It was not known how many books were taken or
exactly when, he said.
Gazeta suggested some of the missing books were from the famed Prussian Library, which came to Krakow from Berlin after World War II. Ziejka said, however, that that was unlikely since the Prussian collection, which includes original manuscripts of works by Beethoven and Mozart, is under special supervision. During the war, the Nazis hid the Prussian Library in the Sudety mountains to protect it from Allied bombs. The mountains became part of Poland when borders shifted after the war and the priceless books were secretly placed in the Jagiellonian Library with only a few of its employees knowing it at the time. Talks are underway on Germany's request for the return of the collection.
- Authorities launched an international search Friday for a 15th century Koran stolen from Turkey's Topkapi Palace, alerting museums, galleries and collectors. With no sign of forced entry and even more valuable items left behind, some suspected the theft may have been commissioned by a connoisseur of Islamic art. "The Koran may have been a missing piece in someone's collection," said Ozgen Acar, an expert on Turkish antiquities. Thieves got away with the handwritten Islamic holy book sometime between closing time Wednesday and opening Thursday at the museum. The Koran was removed from a sealed glass case at the palace. A number of old Turkish miniature paintings and calligraphy on display in the same room were not taken. Police were questioning museum officials. Authorities put out alerts with Interpol and in the art world. "We have asked everyone to be vigilant," said Abdullah Dortlemez of the Culture Ministry. Authorities broadly estimated the holy book's value between $5,000 and $50,000. The Koran is not the most valued item at the palace. Its imperial treasury room houses rubies, emeralds and one of the world's largest diamonds. "This suggests that the thieves were looking for that Koran in particular," Acar said. He said the missing book was probably destined for a buyer abroad, where Islamic art can fetch a lot of money.
Source: Article, AP Worldstream, “Investigation underway into theft of antique books from Jagiellonian Library, September 27, 1999, via Exlibris electronic discussion list, September 29, 1999.
Source: Exlibris electronic discussion list, posted Sept. 3, 1999, via Museum Security Network
May 1999
- D.C. Mick Baldwin (West End Central Police Station, 27 Savile Row, London,
W1; direct line 0171 321 8874) is investigating the theft of several
hundred antiquarian books. While these books cover all subjects, there is a
significant proportion of science books. Titles include: Robert Boyle, A
Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Oxford, 1669; Josephus
Blancanus, Sphaera mundi, Modena, 1635; Kenelm Digby, The Closet, London,
1671; Roger Long, Astronomy in Five Books, Cambridge, 1742-84; Daniel
Newhouse, The Art of Sailing by the Logarithms, London, 1701; Isaac Newton,
The Method of Fluxions and Infinite Series, London, 1736; Isaac Newton,
Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, 2nd edition, Cambridge, 1713;
Isaac Newton, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, 3rd edition,
London, 1726; Christoph Scheiner, Refractiones coelestes, Ingolstadt, 1617;
John Smith, The Sea-Mans Grammar and Dictionary, London, 1691. All library
markings have been effectively removed and DC Baldwin wishes to ascertain
where these books have been stolen from. If librarians or readers have any
information, he would be grateful if they could get in contact with him. He
would also like to know if any library with an antiquarian collection has a
reader registered in the name of Jacques who is currently helping with
enquiries.
Dr Frank A.J.L. James,
Reader in History of Science,
Royal Institution Centre for the History of Science and Technology,
Royal Institution of Great Britain,
21 Albemarle Street,
London,
W1X 4BS,
England
e-mail fjames@ri.ac.uk
direct line: 0171 670 2924Source: Exlibris electronic discussion list, posted May 6, 1999