A Librarian, A Shopkeeper, and an $8M Rare Book Heist

[figtree3]

Although so far there is an arrest but no conviction, the police report doesn't look good. And the bookseller's eBay name is included. I'd like to go with "innocent until proven guilty" -- but as mentioned, there is that police report.

https://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13885402-74/a-librarian-a-shopkeeper-and-an-8m-rare-book-heist

[lludwig]

Figtree3 - Oh my! Thanks for posting the article. I saw the headline recently but had not yet read the article. Not only have I been to the Carnegie Library but also to Caliban Book Store. For such a crime, the former Carnegie Library archivist really didn’t net much imo.

Excerpts from another article titled: Newton's 'Principia' among items in alleged $8M book scheme

Some in the antique and historical book world had heard about the case in the spring when authorities issued a detailed list of missing items and then when authorities unsealed search warrants three weeks ago.

Ellen Dunlap, president of the American Antiquarian Society, said institutions, booksellers and collectors likely are going through their records to determine whether they bought or resold anything from Schulman's store, Caliban Book Store.

One particularly valuable item allegedly stolen and recovered was Newton's "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica," with an estimated value of $900,000.

Listed as a total loss are: "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith, at a value of $180,000; a journal of George Washington, estimated at $250,000; and "Reise in das Innere Nord-America" by Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian and Karl Bodmer, at a value of $1.2 million.

In one case, the men allegedly forged a letter from the library to help them sell a book signed by Thomas Jefferson. The letter was designed to make it look as though the library had removed the book from its archives, detectives said.

An appraiser helping detectives found that book, "De la France et des Etats-Unis," for sale online for $95,000 from a bookstore in New York. The book had been bought and sold twice after Schulman allegedly sold it to Bartleby's, detectives said.

Priore estimated that he netted $40,000 to $50,000 in total, and suspected that Schulman had received much more, detectives said.

Read More: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/newtons-principia-items-alleged-8m-book-scheme-56718325

[figtree3]

Thanks for the link! I had read a few stories earlier today, but there is some information in this one that I hadn't seen.

[lludwig]

Figtree3 - You are welcome! I know what you mean about reading several articles about the same event and each one will have additional information or a different slant. 

This thread reminded me of what Satnrose once said about such situations, esp. the part in the one article where Dunlap said ...”institutions, booksellers and collectors likely are going through their records to determine whether they bought or resold anything from Schulman's store, Caliban Book Store.” See the last post on the Hint thread  

[taylor_memorial]

From the article, there is "plausible deniability".

The thief approached the bookseller, as manager of a rare book room right down the street.

It "MAY" be that the thief implied that the items were culls for some reason or another.

Lacking evidence to the contrary, as doubtful as this scenario is (the Principia, culled rather than conserved? really?) it may not be able to be proved.

[lludwig]

I dunno about that. Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but it sounds as if the two were in cahoots together and the bookseller not only knew what was going on, but would ask for certain items. The library would have thought nothing about the bookseller visiting the Oliver Room often since he had a close, long-standing relationship with the library.

Plus really if a library were to cull their collection of rare books, maps, and bookplates, it is more likely they would put the items up for auction with the correct paperwork etc. These were not items a library would just discard.

In the article I posted it also says:

In a 36-page narrative filed in court, Priore told detectives that he first approached Schulman in the late 1990s about selling items from the library's special collection and that Schulman agreed to do it.

"Priore chose items from the Oliver Room to give to Schulman to sell if Priore felt they had value," the complaint said. "He was unable to recall exactly what he took because he would just grab stuff off of the shelf."

Sometimes, Schulman requested a specific item from Priore, authorities said. Priore removed hundreds of potentially valuable maps and bookplates from books that were otherwise in poor condition, even using an X-Acto knife to cut some items out, they said.”

[taylor_memorial]

Can't believe everything the authorities say, but I don't believe he's innocent, never did. The Principia, for example:

Top tier bookseller only, with a spotless reputation, for a real cull.

But what we believe to be true isn't proven, it's just a sleep of faith without sufficient evidence.

OJ comes to mind: when the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt is tougher than a preponderance of the evidence.

We'll see.  A good lawyer may be able to get him "off".

[lludwig]

Taylor_memorial - I could be mistaken but it reads to me that what the authorities are saying is based on the 36 page affidavit that the librarian made. I doubt if they have any need to make things up about the case to tell the reporters.

Figtree3 - Interesting article in the June issue of FineBooks & Collections. Also interesting is the timing of such article . . . I’ve been to the Boston bookshop of Peter Stern who is quoted in the article. One of those places with a red velvet rope at the bottom of the steps and a ‘doorbell’ to ring to get in. It was on one of our many trips to New England, but what was different about this trip was that I planned the entire route using the Guide to Used Bookstores in New England! We saw a lot of rare books on that trip, esp there where in one room all books were under glass and locked. However, the bookstore that really stood out to me was a ramshackled place in NH where on the steps when you walked in the door were a stack of the blue Big Book of AA with a sign that said, “Free, please take one if you need it. Not for re-sale.”

When Rare Books Go Missing, Booksellers Band Together

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/1203/rare-book-theft-1.phtml

Also a link to the ILAB page on stolen books, news or thefts of collections. It includes a link to the missing items from the Carnegie Library as well as a link to the Carnegie’s Common Collection Markings & Bookplates. Near the bottom of that link is a statment about withdrawn stamps and how they are not used for the Oliver Room for two reasons. The Carnegie Library has referred to it as the Oliver Room Theft since that is from where the librarian took the items.

“Withdrawn Stamps: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a number of withdrawn stamps included on the final page. These are generally the stamps used when we withdraw or remove items from our collection. There is no reason these stamps should be found on items from the Oliver Room. These items have never been withdrawn and if they were it would be unlikely we would stamp them, as it would affect the value. If a library item has a different withdrawn stamp or a stamp in a discrete area, it is likely done to create the impression this was properly removed from the library.”

https://stolen-book.org/index.php

[figtree3]

Thank you! 

I had posted a link to the article on my Facebook page as well. One of my librarian friends recommended a book about a famous book theft. I do like to read occasionally about art forgeries and art thefts but had not thought about reading more about book thefts. The magazine you linked has a blog with a book review column to get me started in identifying and reading:

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/

[taylor_memorial]

There was a kindle book out a few years ago about the history of book theft in America.

This particular theft takes on much the same appearance as the 19th and early 20th century book thefts, with larger money amounts.

Lludwig:

The affadavit is he said--by a motivated talker. A good defense attorney would require there be corraborating evidence of collusion to make the "criminal enterprise" charges stick. Even "accepting stolen goods" requires a reasonable knowledge on the part of the acceptor to prove a criminal act.
In the end it depends on how much money Caliban set aside for defense attorneys, and the jury.

He was always decent and helpful when I asked him questions about any of his books (just once, recently).

[lludwig]

Taylor_memorial - I fully realize that the librarian is ‘motivated’, but an affidavit is given under oath or penalty of perjury. I doubt if he wants to dig his hole even deeper by lying about the bookseller asking him for certain items from a room where they never officially remove items from the listed holdings as underlined above.

The theft has been on-going for over 20 years and the investigation has been on-going since before June of 2017 so it is not as if the DA is jumping the gun in the charges against the two men. They are being charged with theft, conspiracy, forgery, receiving stolen property and other counts in the disappearance of hundreds of items.

In any case, it may never even go to jury trial. Plea bargains happen all the time.

People can be nice and helpful, but still do things that are wrong - or in this case very, very wrong and a crime. Greed overcame them both and what happened is so wrong on so many levels. Tarnishes two professions. Sadly, it just goes to show that being an ABAA bookseller who is also on the Ethics Committee of the ABA doesn’t mean the person is honest or ethical. To say that he didn’t know anything was wrong in a sense is saying he is just a dumb bookseller who doesn’t recognize when something isn't kosher such as a librarian bringing him rare items for 20 years that were in the Oliver Room.

The library issued a statement that said the legal proceedings would take 6 months to 1 year and that while the DA may issue information, they will wait and tell their story after it is wrapped up. The way the press release was worded it didn’t even sound as if they thought they would have to tell their story in court, which if plea bargains happen then they won’t.

Guess I will just wait and see what happens.

[lludwig]

Figtree3 - You are welcome! You most likely have heard or read about the Morman forgeries. As of 2005, at least 7 books have been written about it.

Tales of Hofmann: Forgeries, deceit continue to intrigue 20 years later

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/635153542/Tales-of-Hofmann-Forgeries-deceit-continue-to-intrigue...

[lludwig]

Figtree3 - Speaking of books about book thefts, FineBooks & Collections recently posted a book review.  

Book Review: “Torn from Their Bindings”

With all the news about book theft of late (in Pittsburgh; and Dayton), and a nationally screened film about the 2004 robbery of Audubon’s Birds of America in Kentucky, it may seem as though Travis McDade’s new book, Torn from Their Bindings: The Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries, was ripped from the headlines. Sadly, the truth is that not-so-clever book thieves are always with us, as borne out in his meticulously researched page-turner that focuses on the case of Robert Kindred, who sliced thousands of antique prints out of rare books and journals in 1980.

McDade is the author of several books about book theft, including Thieves of Book Row: New York’s Most Notorious Rare Book Ring (2013), excerpted in our spring 2013 issue, and Disappearing Ink: The Insider, the FBI, and the Looting of the Kenyon College Library (2015). He is also the curator of law rare books at the University of Illinois College of Law, which is to say, he is the leading expert on rare book crimes.

McDade’s approach is methodical as he tracks Kindred (driving a Cadillac, no less) from Southern California to Texas to Illinois, with a few stops in between, stopping at university libraries to pillage the stacks. It is the heist Kindred tries to pull off at the University of Illinois, and for which he got caught, in June of 1980, that McDade zeroes in on. Kindred and his accomplice, Richard Green, had attempted to steal several oversized illustrated books but were foiled when a maintenance man literally stumbled across their cache on his way into the building late one night.

Turns out Kindred, a hustler with a string of bad ideas, is a character right out of fiction, and McDade harnesses that to tell a suspenseful tale and make a compelling argument about library security and preservation issues.

Read More:

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2018/07/book-review-torn-from-their-bindings.phtml...

[figtree3]

Thank you, lludwig!

[dreambooks]

Another interesting story:

A small-town couple left behind a stolen painting worth over $100 million - and a big mystery