Map Thefts

Travis McDade on the Hayes Library Thefts
Also on MapHist, Tony Campbell points to this scorching blog entry by Travis McDade (a library administration professor and author of The Book Thief; see previous entry). Dade is writing about two thefts of rare books from the Rutherford B…. »
Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 9:47 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Brubaker Sentenced to 30 Months
74-year-old map thief James Brubaker was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday, the Calgary Herald reports; he had pleaded guilty to two counts in June. (Why the Calgary Herald? Because the Montana-based Brubaker apparently hit both the Universities of… »
Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Updates on the Rivero Case
For the latest developments in the case of César Gómez Rivero, who is facing charges related to the theft of maps from Spain’s National Library, see this July article from El Pais and this more recent article from the Uruguayan… »
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Electrician Sentenced for Birmingham University Thefts
An electrician has been given a suspended sentence for stealing approximately £89,000 worth of maps, books and documents from Birmingham University’s library, the Birmingham Post reports. Richard Delaney, 37, was caught after failing to return a van that had been… »
Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
The Case Against James L. Brubaker
More on the Brubaker case: a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana outlines the federal case against James L. Brubaker, who pleaded guilty last month to charges of possession and interstate transportation of stolen… »
Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 7:57 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Brubaker Pleads Guilty
A follow-up to this story: James Brubaker has pleaded guilty in federal court; he had been charged with stealing rare books — or pages torn from them — and selling them on eBay. Though he was largely busted for thefts… »
Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 7:25 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Map Thief Bellwood Sentenced in Denmark
Map thief Peter Bellwood was sentenced by a British court to four and a half years in prison in 2004; now Denmark has had its crack at him: he was sentenced last Wednesday to a year in prison, plus a… »
Posted on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 6:29 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Missing and Stolen Maps Database
The Missing and Stolen Maps Database has been announced. In early February 2008, the International Antiquarian Mapsellers Association (IAMA) voted to provide funding for the development and maintenance of a missing and stolen map database. The database is the result… »
Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Montana Man Arrested for WWU Map Thefts
Two years ago, I reported that a number of government documents in a Western Washington University library had been vandalized; at least 648 maps and coloured plates had been torn from at least 108 volumes in the United States… »
Posted on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
74 Maps Stolen from British Library
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… »
Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Australia Returns Stolen Map to Spain
A map stolen from a copy of the 1482 Cosmographia held by Spain’s National Library that turned up in a Sydney gallery has been returned by the Australian government. Previously: Of 19 Stolen Maps, 11 Have Been Recovered; Map Thief… »
Posted on Monday, February 4, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Commendation for Recovering Stolen Maps
Last October, the Rare Books and Manuscript Section (RBMS) and the Map and Geography Roundtable (MAGERT) of the American Library Association passed a resolution commending booksellers, auction houses and map dealers for their assistance in recovering stolen maps. “Their efforts… »
Posted on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 9:09 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Boston Public Library’s Stolen Maps Returned
The denouement of the Forbes Smiley affair, at least as far as the Boston Public Library is concerned, is covered in today’s Boston Globe: “More than 30 rare, antique maps stolen from the Boston Public Library by a Martha’s Vineyard… »
Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Of 19 Stolen Maps, 11 Have Been Recovered
The FBI has recovered two more maps stolen from the Spanish National Library, Reuters reports; out of a total of 19 stolen maps, that makes 11 that have since been recovered. Via Map the Universe. Previously: Map Thief Surrenders; Some… »
Posted on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 8:24 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Haunts Harvard Still
Forbes Smiley’s impact may still be felt at Harvard, where students endure long lines on their way out of the library for security checks, and where Harvard College’s Houghton Library has posted a list of three maps associated with the… »
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 12:48 PM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
Map Thief Surrenders
The Times reports that the man suspected of stealing 19 maps from Spain’s national library has given himself up in Argentina. César Gómez Rivero, a Uruguyan-born Spanish national residing in Buenos Aires, tried to negotiate a deal with an Argentine… »
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 10:18 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Some Maps Stolen from Spanish Library Recovered
More on the case of the maps stolen from the Spanish national library, courtesy of El País: the total number of maps stolen is now listed as 19 (on 12 leaves), but the missing maps are beginning to be recovered,… »
Posted on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 8:09 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Map Theft Updates
More news about the maps stolen from a 1482 edition of the Cosmographia held in Spain’s national library: Spanish authorities have named a suspect, a 60-year-old Spanish citizen of Uruguayan origin currently residing in Argentina; and the missing maps have… »
Posted on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 7:48 AM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
Atlas Stolen in Normandy
Libraries aren’t the only targets of map thieves. “Please be advised that on 20 August an atlas was stolen from a private premises in Normandy in France,” Béatrice Loeb-Larocque wrote to Map the Universe. “The atlas contains 48 maps by… »
Posted on Thursday, September 6, 2007 at 7:49 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Spanish Map Theft Update
We now have English-language media coverage of the recent map theft from the Spanish National Library: see The Times and The Independent. And we have some more information. The suspect is apparently an Argentine researcher who apparently was authorized by… »
Posted on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 10:56 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Maps Stolen from Spain’s National Library
A 1482 edition of the Cosmographia held by Spain’s National Library has been vandalized, El Mundo reports. Two maps were removed despite the Library’s security measures: the volumes are kept in a room accessible only by cardholders. There are… »
Posted on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 9:19 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
MAGERT Map Collection Security Guidelines
Draft guidelines for map collection security (PDF) are now available from MAGERT’s Task Force on Library Security for Cartographic Resources; they’re seeking comment by September 15. See also the conference report (PDF) from the ALA meeting. Via MAPS-L…. »
Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 8:41 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Keeping It Safe, Keeping It Available
In the July 2007 issue of the Library Student Journal, an article by Joel Kovarsky discusses security and theft-prevention measures in library special collections, and the challenges of keeping rare materials both safe and available. As you might expect, Joel… »
Posted on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 9:03 PM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
The Rebirth of the Sterling Map Collection
When Forbes Smiley was caught red-handed three years ago, it was at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, but it was the map collection at the nearby Sterling Memorial Library — and the state of disrepair of its catalogue… »
Posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 10:32 PM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
More Details on Tanner Atlas Recovery
The Journal News has more on the recovery of the 1823 Tanner Atlas. The atlas was taken from the Rockland Historical Society last month; the suspect is a former society employee. A Philadelphia bookseller who had been tipped off to… »
Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 10:28 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Tanner Atlas Recovered
The copy of the Tanner Atlas that was reported stolen earlier this month has been recovered, according to a post on Exlibris, which announced that the atlas “has been recovered in Pennsylvania by a bookseller who was aware of the… »
Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 at 9:46 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Smiley’s Restitution Raised to $2.3 Million
Last September, in addition to his 3½-year prison sentence, map thief E. Forbes Smiley III was ordered to pay restitution to his victims; at the time, the amount was tentatively set at $1.9 million (see previous entry). Today the final… »
Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 8:31 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Tanner Atlas Stolen
Via MapHist, a report on the Ex-Libris mailing list that a copy of Tanner’s 1823 New American Atlas was stolen from a downstate New York library between April 20 and 22. (The David Rumsey site has numerous examples from this… »
Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 at 8:09 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Audio: Kim Martineau on Forbes Smiley
Kim Martineau is the Hartfort Courant reporter whose first-rate coverage of the Forbes Smiley map theft case was the subject of many of my posts; since Smiley’s sentencing last fall, she’s been speaking about her experiences covering the case… »
Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 at 2:44 PM
Categories: Map Thefts, Podcasts & Audio
50 Antique Maps Stolen in Pennsylvania
You didn’t think we were done with the map thievery just because Forbes Smiley is in the big house, did you? Antique Trade Mark reports that 50 antique maps went missing from a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania rare book store some time… »
Posted on Friday, March 2, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley and Cortés’s Map
If you had thought you’d heard the last about Forbes Smiley — who is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year federal sentence after having admitted to stealing nearly 100 maps from various libraries — then you were mistaken. The Hartford Courant’s Kim… »
Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at 3:56 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Theft Roundup: Yale Security Measures; European Libraries
Yale University is considering a series of new library security measures following three (!) reviews set into motion by the Forbes Smiley case, Yale Daily News reports (not Safari-compatible). Among other things, reading rooms will be videotaped and cataloguing and… »
Posted on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 8:42 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
BPL’s List of Missing Maps
The Boston Public Library has released a list of maps classified as missing from the Leventhal Map Center. According to yesterday’s press release, the list has been released now that Forbes Smiley has been sentenced. [T]he Boston Public Library is… »
Posted on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 11:00 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Kim Martineau to Speak on Forbes Smiley Case
Kim Martineau, the Hartfort Courant reporter who filed many excellent stories about the Forbes Smiley map theft case, will be a guest speaker at the November 16th meeting of the Washington Map Society; she’ll also be speaking to the New… »
Posted on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 10:48 AM
Categories: Groups & Societies, Map Thefts
Smiley Sentenced to Five Years
The Hartford Courant: “A state judge sentenced E. Forbes Smiley III, the Martha’s Vineyard map thief, to the maximum five years in prison Friday, a move that was largely symbolic and unlikely to add time to the 3½-year sentence Smiley… »
Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 7:48 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Hartford Courant: String Him Up!
A Hartford Courant editorial adds to the chorus fulminating against the sentence handed to Forbes Smiley last week: Should a judge forgive a car thief because he returned the vehicle? Should a mass murderer get a lighter sentence because he… »
Posted on Friday, October 6, 2006 at 8:22 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Antiques and the Arts Online on Smiley’s Sentencing
Antiques and the Arts Online’s article on Forbes Smiley’s sentencing contains some information not seen in other coverage. It doesn’t hurt that it lacks the gosh-wow factor inherent in so much mainstream coverage, where reporters stand in awe of the… »
Posted on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 7:29 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
NYPL Issues Missing Maps List
Following previous lists issued by Harvard and Yale libraries, the New York Public Library has issued a list of missing antiquarian maps and a list of rare books from which maps have been taken. Via Maps-L. I don’t have any… »
Posted on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at 3:55 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Connecticut Public Radio on Forbes Smiley Sentence
Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR)’s program, Where We Live, had a long segment dedicated to the Forbes Smiley sentence on last Thursday’s program. Featured, a long interview with map dealer William Reese (see previous entry), who shared his thoughts on the… »
Posted on Monday, October 2, 2006 at 8:26 PM
Categories: Map Thefts, Podcasts & Audio
Breaking News: Smiley Sentenced to 3½ Years
The Associated Press: A renowned dealer who admitted stealing nearly 100 rare antique maps was sentenced Wednesday to 3½ years in prison after one librarian described him as a “thief who assaulted history.” E. Forbes Smiley III, a 50-year-old resident… »
Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 5:18 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Prosecutors File Brief, Explain Smiley’s Motives
Attorneys for the British Library and Forbes Smiley have made their submissions regarding Smiley’s upcoming sentencing; now it’s the prosecution’s turn. In their sentencing brief today, prosecutors explained Smiley’s motives for stealing nearly 100 maps, the Associated Press’s John Christoffersen… »
Posted on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 12:30 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley’s Sentencing Memorandum
The 39-page sentencing memorandum written by Forbes Smiley’s defence attorney, Richard Reeve, is available online (PDF) from the Hartford Courant (see also the attached exhibits). The document responds to the memorandum submitted last week by the British Library, partially on… »
Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 8:47 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Sentencing Delayed
Forbes Smiley’s sentencing has been postponed until October 13. No reasons as yet for the delay; the hearing had already been pushed back to accomodate libraries’ sentencing memoranda. Update, Sept. 27: This applies only to Smiley’s sentencing in state court… »
Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 8:24 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Asks for Leniency
In the wake of the British Library’s submission calling for a stiffer sentence than called for by the guidelines, Forbes Smiley’s attorney is asking for leniency, the Associated Press reports. Specifically, he’s asking for three years, rather than the five… »
Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 10:05 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
British Library/Forbes Smiley Update
News coverage of the British Library’s submission regarding Forbes Smiley’s upcoming sentencing continues to trickle in: here are stories from the Library Journal, the Vineyard Gazette and the Yale Daily News — the last covering libraries’ stepped-up security following Smiley’s… »
Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 at 9:48 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: More on the British Library’s Brief
The Guardian adds to the coverage of the British Library’s brief asking for a harsher penalty for Forbes Smiley (see previous entry). I must confess to some misgivings about the ferociousness of the libraries’ response to Mr. Smiley. He’s already… »
Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 at 10:41 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
British Library Demands Harsher Sentence for Smiley
The British Library has unleashed its hired gun (see previous entry). In a court filing yesterday, the Library’s attorney, Robert Goldman, asks that Smiley be sentenced to up to eight years, rather than the five to six years agreed to… »
Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 at 8:36 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
The Book Thief
Travis McDade writes, “I have a book coming out in October about a man who stole books and maps from Columbia University some years ago. The book deals a little with his theft and capture but largely with the… »
Posted on Thursday, September 7, 2006 at 10:48 AM
Categories: Books, Map Thefts
Reese Donates $100K to Yale for Map Digitization
Rare book and map dealer William Reese is donating $100,000 to Yale University — a donation that the university will match and add to with a fundraising campaign. The money will go towards digitizing and cataloguing Yale’s maps: the eventual… »
Posted on Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 8:47 AM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
The British Library’s Hired Gun
The British Library has hired Robert Goldman, an attorney who specializes in art thefts, to represent it in hopes of tracking down the missing maps that Forbes Smiley has not confessed to taking. The Hartford Courant’s Kim Martineau has a… »
Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 9:46 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Stolen Maps Meeting Kept Private
The results of Monday’s meeting between libraries from whom Forbes Smiley stole maps will be kept private, the Harvard Crimson reports, though the article suggests that no actions have been ruled out, including private investigators and a civil suit. Via… »
Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 at 11:36 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Another Missing Maps Update
Today’s Vinyard Gazette story about the Forbes Smiley case refers to Monday’s meeting of libraries from whom Smiley stole (see previous entry) but adds little new information; it’s mostly a recap, but does emphasize the penalties Smiley faces next month…. »
Posted on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 at 8:45 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Missing Map Overlap
The Harvard Crimson reports on the growing concern that Forbes Smiley may have stolen more maps than he admitted to, and on a meeting of affected map libraries this Monday: “But at least four of those libraries, including the Houghton… »
Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 at 8:26 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Yale Issues Statement About Smiley Investigation
Yale University issued the following statement on August 1: Several recent news stories have mischaracterized Yale University’s views regarding the federal investigation of map thefts by E. Forbes Smiley. Yale is confident that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office… »
Posted on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 10:16 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Harvard’s List of Missing Maps
Last month Yale issued a list of missing maps; today Harvard has done the same: I have a copy of their list (two pages, 25 KB, PDF file). See previous entries: Stolen Harvard Maps to Be Returned in September; Forbes… »
Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 2:31 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Boston Globe on Libraries’ Suspicions About Smiley
Kim Martineau’s latest article (see previous entry) has been picked up by the wire services, but the Boston Globe has a new article on the matter of whether Forbes Smiley took more maps than he’s confessed to, with, as you… »
Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 7:32 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Libraries Suspect Smiley in More Map Thefts
More from the Hartford Courant on the libraries’ growing belief that Forbes Smiley may not have fessed up to all the maps he stole from them. In a nutshell (and as covered previously here), the libraries’ post-arrest inventories turned up… »
Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 at 12:43 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Stolen Harvard Maps to Be Returned in September
From today’s Boston Globe: “Eight maps purloined from the Houghton Library at Harvard University will be returned to the institution in September, when E. Forbes Smiley III is sentenced for their thefts, according to a US Justice Department spokesman.” See… »
Posted on Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 7:33 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Yale’s Missing Maps
After Forbes Smiley was caught in the act of stealing maps from Yale’s Beinecke Library last year, the university began an inventory of its map holdings to discover, comprehensively, what was missing. Precluded by federal authorities from making the list… »
Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at 8:08 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Is Forbes Smiley Getting Off Easy?
Much discussion about Forbes Smiley’s purported cooperation and the appropriateness of his upcoming sentence on MapHist, where Tony Campbell, referring to the news stories that maps from Harvard and the British Library are still missing, is starting to notice a… »
Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at 10:34 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Harvard Crimson Coverage
The Harvard Crimson’s coverage of Forbes Smiley’s guilty plea naturally focuses on the maps taken from Harvard’s Houghton Library. When last we heard, Harvard was conducting an inventory; according to the article, “Houghton Library discovered that 13 maps were missing… »
Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 at 3:29 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Three Missing British Maps Still Missing
Forbes Smiley might not be out of the woods yet. Three maps that went missing from the British Library last year (and reported here last September) are still missing. They were not among the maps that Smiley confessed to taking… »
Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 at 7:50 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Martha’s Vineyard Coverage
E. Forbes Smiley III is based in Martha’s Vineyard; local coverage of his case — of his court appearance and guilty plea last week and the case in general — appeared in yesterday’s Martha’s Vineyard Times and today’s Vineyard Gazette…. »
Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 at 7:39 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Nine Maps of Canada
The National Post’s coverage of the Forbes Smiley affair focuses on the nine early maps of Canada that were recovered after Smiley’s arrest. See previous entries: Breaking News: Forbes Smiley Pleads Guilty; Forbes Smiley Case: Court Documents; Hartford Courant: “For… »
Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 8:34 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Hartford Courant: ‘For Map Thief, a World of Deceit’
An excellent story about the denouement of the Forbes Smiley affair by Kim Martineau appeared in yesterday’s Hartford Courant — which, again, has provided the leading coverage on this case. Martineau’s article goes into more detail about the missing maps,… »
Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 at 10:50 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Court Documents
Thanks to Tony Campbell, I’ve acquired copies of the following court documents related to Forbes Smiley’s guilty plea last Thursday (see previous entry): The single-count indictment to which Smiley pled guilty (two pages, 28 KB); The full text of the… »
Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 at 11:54 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Breaking News: Forbes Smiley Pleads Guilty
The Associated Press: E. Forbes Smiley III, 50, of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., pleaded guilty to one count of theft of major artwork in connection with the theft of a map from Yale University. He admitted taking a total of 97… »
Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 5:46 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley in Court Tomorrow
A reminder that Forbes Smiley — the map dealer caught cutting rare maps from books in a Yale University library last year — is due in court tomorrow. From an AP story in the Boston Globe: “Smiley, who pleaded not… »
Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at 2:39 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Hartford Courant Editorial
The Hartford Courant, which has done most of the front-line reporting on the Forbes Smiley map theft case (see many previous posts in the Map Thefts category), fulminates against the man in an editorial this morning: “To cultural guardians, this… »
Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 7:11 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
More Forbes Smiley Coverage
More from the Vineyard Gazette on the news that Forbes Smiley may plead guilty on the 22nd. See previous entry: Forbes Smiley to Admit Map Thefts…. »
Posted on Friday, June 16, 2006 at 8:52 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley to Admit Map Thefts
The Hartford Courant: “E. Forbes Smiley III, 50, who lives on Martha’s Vineyard, is due to appear in U.S. District Court in New Haven on June 22 to accept responsibility for a staggering number of thefts, bringing a yearlong FBI… »
Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 7:19 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
WWU Collection Vandalized
A developing story on the MAPS-L mailing list. Last month, a librarian at Western Washington University reported that a number of government documents had been vandalized. The plates had been removed with a razor (the modus operandi of map thieves)…. »
Posted on Sunday, March 12, 2006 at 9:38 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
What Can Collectors Do to Prevent Map Theft?
Roger Baskes, president of the International Map Collectors’ Society, responds to the Forbes Smiley business (covered here at great length) with an article on what collectors can do to deter map thieves. In the article, which first appeared in the… »
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 at 8:18 PM
Categories: Collecting, Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Fallout at Yale’s Beinecke Library
The Hartford Courant’s Kim Martineau has been on the Forbes Smiley case for months, and has generally led the reporting on the story (see the Map Thefts category archive for earlier coverage). In today’s edition, she has a story that… »
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 10:40 AM
Categories: Libraries, Map Thefts
Link Roundup for January 12
As an experiment, a lot of new links at once: A new Google Earth blog with a rather unwieldy title: Using Google Earth for Earth Science and Remote Sensing (via Ogle Earth). The Prejudice Map is built by querying Google… »
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at 9:41 AM
Categories: Blogs, Conferences, Groups & Societies, Libraries, Map Thefts, Miscellany, Online Maps, Satellite & Aerial
The Class Implications of the Forbes Smiley Case
Alan Bisbort, writing in the Hartford Advocate, pokes at the class implications of the Forbes Smiley case brought out, in part, by William Finnegan’s New Yorker article (see previous entry): Smiley was one of the elite in the antiquarian trade…. »
Posted on Friday, November 4, 2005 at 11:33 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Another Roundup
William Finnegan’s long article in the Oct. 17 issue of The New Yorker, which I mentioned in an earlier entry, wasn’t online, but it was very good — an excellent summary of what was known to date with some additional… »
Posted on Monday, October 24, 2005 at 6:37 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
More Forbes Smiley Coverage
The Daily Princetonian covers the Forbes Smiley case in like manner to the University of Chicago Maroon (see previous entry), by using the case to focus on concerns about rare-book and special-collection security in libraries. Meanwhile, through MapHist I learn… »
Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 at 7:20 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Coverage: Chicago Maroon
For the sake of completeness, here is a short article from the Chicago Maroon, the University of Chicago’s student newspaper, about this Forbes Smiley business (abundantly documented in the Map Thefts category archives); of interest is the description of the… »
Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at 9:24 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: Arader Says, ‘I Told You So’
Controversial map dealer Graham Arader stirs the pot again in the New York Times (free registration required): “‘I’ve been telling everybody that Forbes is a crook for 20 years, and everybody says to me, “You just think the only good… »
Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 at 7:39 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: London Times Coverage
Tomorrow’s edition of the London Times (or today’s, depending on where in the world you are at the moment), has an article on the Forbes Smiley case that adds some new information from the FBI. Despite Smiley’s plea of not… »
Posted on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at 10:25 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Roundup
The Yale Daily News covers Forbes Smiley’s pre-trial conference, which took place yesterday. The International Herald Tribune reprinted yesterday’s New York Times story (see previous entry), in case an alternate URL is needed. The Toronto Star also reprinted the story…. »
Posted on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 7:00 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
New York Times Forbes Smiley Coverage (Updated)
Forbes Smiley is scheduled to appear in court today; coincidentally, the New York Times covers the case in today’s edition (free registration required). The article, which sums up what is known to date, notes a couple of things I didn’t… »
Posted on Monday, October 3, 2005 at 10:10 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Profile
E. Forbes Smiley III has not talked to the media since the news of his arrest on map theft charges broke in July. The Hartford Courant, however, has interviewed friends, neighbours, colleagues and detractors to piece together a portrait of… »
Posted on Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 11:06 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
More British Library Theft Coverage
More coverage of the recent theft of three maps from the British Library from the Hampstead and Highgate Express; the article seems particularly clueless, and tries to draw in other missing items that are as likely to be misplaced as… »
Posted on Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 4:22 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Smiley Suspected in British Library Thefts
The Montreal Gazette also covers the news that three maps were stolen from the British Library (see previous entry). The Gazette article focuses on a map of particular significance to Canadian history — a 1578 map of Martin Frobisher’s discoveries… »
Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 9:45 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Three Maps Stolen from British Library
Three early maps — two 17th-century maps of North America and a 16th-century world map — have been taken from the British Library, The Independent reports in today’s edition. The maps were taken earlier this year, in March and June;… »
Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 8:36 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: LA Times on Library Security
Today’s Los Angeles Times has a story about the Forbes Smiley case that focuses on the security measures adopted by rare book libraries. (If the site asks that you register, clear your latimes.com cookies.)… »
Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 at 11:16 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
LA Times: Forbes Smiley and the Culture of Stealing
An op-ed in today’s LA Times by Rachel Shteir uses the Forbes Smiley case to argue that we are now living in a culture of stealing: “Before Smiley’s arrest, he was, to all appearances, a respectable map dealer with a… »
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2005 at 3:53 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Updates on the Forbes Smiley Case
What is to be done? Much discussion over on MapHist about what the Forbes Smiley arrest can teach us about map security, with suggestions about how to tighten security in map collections, such as CCTV, limiting what can be taken… »
Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 8:44 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley Case: 10 Maps Missing at Boston Library
The Boston Globe reports that 10 rare maps are missing from the Boston Public Library. The library began to check its collection after Forbes Smiley, a frequent visitor to the library, was arrested last month. See also this Boston Globe… »
Posted on Friday, August 12, 2005 at 8:18 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Forbes Smiley News Roundup
Tony Campbell is keeping tabs on news coverage of the Forbes Smiley court case here, and has asked to be informed of other reporting on this story. For the sake of completeness, here are some earlier news stories on the… »
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 at 9:09 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Map Dealer in Court Yesterday
E. Forbes Smiley III, who was charged with stealing maps from a university library (see previous entry), was in court yesterday: he pleaded not guilty; his next court appearance is scheduled for October 3. More on the arrest from the… »
Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 5:57 AM
Categories: Map Thefts
Map Dealer Faces Theft Charges
When you read The Island of Lost Maps, a book about map theft by Miles Harvey, you get the clear impression that neither map librarians nor map dealers were comfortable admitting that map thieves existed in their midst — that… »
Posted on Saturday, August 6, 2005 at 10:20 PM
Categories: Map Thefts
Map Thief Jailed
(I was going through my e-mail and stumbled across a link that Huw had submitted in late December and that, probably because of the holidays-induced chaos, I simply forgot to post. Anyway, here it is now.) Last December, the BBC… »
Posted on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 at 4:26 PM
Categories: Map Thefts

Note: Entries from 2003 were not categorized and will not appear in the category archives. Please consult the monthly archives.