A note from the British Library’s Security Co-ordinator, Judith Barnes, that appeared on Shelf:Life and has been reprinted at PhiloBiblos:

I very much regret to report that we have discovered the theft of 74 maps from Description de l’Univers, contenant les differentes systèmes du monde, les cartes … de la géographie ancienne et moderne … et les mœurs … de chaque nation by MANESSON MALLET, Alain. (Paris, 1683). This is now the subject of a police investigation with the Arts and Antiques Unit. We do not yet know when the maps were stolen, and as soon as I have more information I will be in touch again.

PhiloBiblos reports that the work is “a five-volume set containing some 677 plates” — 74 of which have been stripped from the British Library’s copy — and that it is a “quite rare, quite valuable work (three copies are listed on AddAll today with prices ranging from $24,000 to 30,000).” Via MapHist.