• Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2012 Issue

Theft Report – Two Thousand Library Books and One Book of Mormon

That third hand must have helped Mr. De Caro pilfer books.

Details of a massive book theft from a very old Italian library have emerged over the past two months. It's a case that must be leaving scholars, and police, with their heads shaking. How could this happen?

Last April, Massimo Marino De Caro, director of the Girolamini Library, the oldest library in Naples, dating back to the late 16th century, reported 1,500 books were missing. Mr. De Caro is something of a story in himself. No one seems to be exactly sure how he got the job. He had no particular qualifying credentials as far as can be seen. What he did have on his resume was a number of shady dealings, including an affair involving Venezuelan oil and other intrigues. These aren't typical of the average librarian. He also appeared to be severely neglecting the library, almost as if he were preoccupied with something else. A petition had been presented with signatures of 2,000 librarians and academics questioning why he had been given the job. Some scholars had found the library in disarray, books lying on the floor gathering dust, the facilities not being properly maintained. Several of Mr. De Caro's assistants seemed to come from similarly questionable backgrounds. Why were they placed in charge of this ancient library and its collection of 160,000 books?

It was shortly after this petition was filed that Mr. De Caro “discovered” 1,500 books were missing. Workers then led police to security camera films. Lo and behold, surveillance tapes showed Mr. De Caro himself leaving the building with a large number of books. Evidently, he had not checked them out with his library card.

After the discovery of the evidence from the security cameras, Mr. De Caro was suspended from his position. Further searching led to a storage facility connected to Mr. De Caro containing about 1,000 books, 250 of them having the stamp of the Girolamini Library. In late May, the library director was arrested. Four other fellow librarians, or accomplices, depending on your point of view, were also arrested. Three of them were Argentinians, rather than Italians. Also implicated in the scheme has been the library's curator, Sandro Marsano, a priest.

Books believed to have come from the library have shown up in numerous other locales, either for storage or sale. Some 400-500 books were brought to the auction house of Schauer & Zisska. When the German auctioneers learned of the possible background, they immediately withdrew the lots. A couple dozen others were reported to have shown up at an English auction house. Estimates of books taken have now climbed to 2,200, and some may have shown up now at various places around the world. To say this theft, and the ensuing mess, is large would be an understatement. Tracking them all down and restoring the library to its prior position will probably be impossible. The ultimate recovery will most likely have to be described in terms of a percentage. Some older libraries don't receive a lot of visitors any more, and when the cats are away, you know what the rats can do.

A copy of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, or least what is left of it, was stolen from the shop of an 88-year-old bookseller in Mesa, Arizona, in late May. After a couple of weeks away, it was located. This is a tale with a better ending than the first, and yet many in the trade are still not feeling the love.

Helen Schlie, the older Arizona bookseller, specializing in Mormon material, has owned a copy of the first edition Book of Mormon since she and her husband purchased it from a man in need of cash back in the 1960s. Mrs. Schlie is a Mormon and obviously a devoted congregant. However, what she decided to do with her first edition a few years ago left many in the book selling trade, especially the Mormon book field, more than a little dismayed. The Book of Mormon is not a rarity. It was published in 1830 by church founder Joseph Smith in the rather astounding for its time run of 5,000 copies. Estimates are at least 500 copies survive. Nonetheless, it is a six figure book as Mormon material is highly collectible and 500 isn't anywhere near the number of people who would like more than just about anything to own a copy.

Mrs. Schlie had a way to help many more of them own one. It is the terribly controversial practice of slicing a book apart and selling off the pages individually. Car enthusiasts call it parting out. The general rule is if you have a seriously defective copy, particularly one with pages missing, it is acceptable to cut it apart. If the copy is compete, some people think cutting out the pages, which forever destroys the item as a book, is a sacrilege, particularly if it is a religious work. An article on the Washington Post website quoted one Utah based Mormon bookseller as saying the theft was “Divine intervention,” another said, “It’s incomprehensible how someone could use their religion to mask what is, to me, just out-and-out greed.” Tough words directed at a woman of 88, but like we said, some people consider breaking apart a book, and particularly one like the Book of Mormon, almost a crime. Mrs. Schlie, who put the pages in a nice frame and sold them for $2,500-$4,500, thought of it as a way of making a piece of the founding document of Mormonism available to many people for whom possessing such a connection was otherwise impossible.

Apparently, Mrs. Schlie was not too keen on security with her prized possession. She gladly showed it to anyone who walked in the door, and some people liked to have their picture taken with her book. She did not disguise where she kept the book, and on the night in question, she simply placed it in a fireproof box inside an unlocked filing cabinet. That was on a Friday evening, after she had shown the book to some browsers. When she looked to show it to some other visitors the following week, it was gone.

We next hear of the book a couple of weeks later when a dealer specializing in Mormon works in Dallas received a phone call. It was from Jay Linford of Herndon, Virginia, and he had some individual pages from the Book of Mormon for sale. The “unnamed dealer,” which the Dallas Observer has identified as Moon's LDS bookstore, was interested. The price was quite reasonable for its title page, so the owner made a purchase. However, he later heard about the theft in Arizona, viewed an image of its title page online, and realized this was the same title page he had purchased. He called Mrs. Schlie, who called the Mesa, Arizona, police, who visited the Dallas bookseller, and had him call Mr. Linford in Herndon. A few minutes later, detectives were at Linford's door with a search warrant. They found Mrs. Schlie's copy in Mr. Linford's apartment, just as they expected.

While the book will soon be returned to Mrs. Schlie, this story doesn't have an entirely happy ending. The identity of the thief turned out to be particularly heartbreaking for Mrs. Schlie. Jay Linford has been a Mormon bookseller too, and had founded a small business in Palmyra, New York, birthplace of the Mormon faith, printing replicas of important documents. Even sadder, he had worked for Mrs. Schlie at one time, and the two talked regularly on the phone. She had considered Mr. Linford almost like a grandson. He apparently had financial problems arising from his businesses and chose to resolve them on the back of an older lady who had complete faith in him. This is sad for Mrs. Schlie indeed. The loss of trust can be even more painful than the loss of a book, even a very special one.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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