$2.1 Million Worth Of Books, Manuscripts Stolen From London Warehouse

A group of thieves has recently stolen more than $2.1 million worth of antiquarian books from a London warehouse while on their way to the California International Antiquarian Book Fair. The thieves have evaded the securities and its system by making holes through reinforced glass and using 40ft ropes into the repository.

The criminals have stolen more than 160 books included a 1566 copy of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium by the astrologist Copernicus worth an estimated of $228,000 along with the works of Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo and Dante's Divine Comedy 1569 edition.

As reported by Antiques Trade Gazette from the statement of Brian Lake, the security chair for the Antiquarian Bookseller's Association claimed that the crime incident was a major theft for the book trade. The robbery was involved manuscripts and early books, although the stolen books and manuscript are all cataloged and easily to identify.

International Dealers and Auctioneers have already been reached and the overall list of titles has been logged with both the London Stolen Art Database and the website stolen-book.org which was recently owned by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.

Among the items that have been stolen, the most trackable are a late 15^th Century North Italian illuminated manuscript along with the late 18^th Century Armorial bind the arms of Ferdinand IV of Naples. Also, a rare copy of Jacobus de Forlivi's scientific tract De intensione ET remissione formarum c.1476-77 with marginal notes and calculations by the three different contemporary hands; each of them had a retail price range from €38,000 to €58,000 respectively.

According to from the reports of The Guardian, the leading art lawyer Chris Marinello, also the CEO of London based Art Recovery International stated that the thieves are now surely looking for buyers but the more publicity the crime gets, the more difficult they can sell the items. Metropolitan Police Service's Art and Antiques Unit are working with officers from Hounslow Borough Police on the matter.

TagsStolen Books, Stolen Manuscripts, California International Antiquarian Book Fair, Antiquarian Bookseller's Association, Metropolitan Police Service's Art and Antiques Unit