The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-12-16
EMINENT nooK srEALrRs.
People, Whom ono Would not Suspect, who
will Take Things.

AT meeting of the Librarians Club in
New York on Thursday some remarkable
statements were made relative to the prac-
tice of book stealing.
William I. Peoples Of the Mercantile Lii.
brary, said that many books were lost
through subscribers, who carry them home
and failed to return them. He instanced a
case of a German school teacher, who kept
book for four years and resisted every eff
fort to recover it. George Hannah, of the
Long Island Historical Society, said that
while he was connected with the Astor Lii
brary wealthy and we'll known man, who
had been a habitual visitor to the library,
died suddenly. From his library Mr. Han
nah picked out nearly 400 volumes that he
had carried away from the Aston Library at
different times. Mr.. Pool, of the Young
Mems Christian Association, employed q
detective ON one occasion to watch q French
man who was suspected of stealing books
The mans method was to procure book,
sit down to read IL, wrap it up in his over
coat after little while, and then take up
paper or magazine. After he had salts
fed himself that he was unobserved he
would take up his overcoat and walk out.
He was arrested in the act, and some of the
books he had stolen were recovered from
an old book store near Washington SQUARE.
They were identified by private mark,
and the bookseller told Mr.. Pool that he
ought to make his private mark public. SO
that booksellers could know when they
were offered stolen books In the same
store were found number of Aston Library
books that had been stolen by the same
man. Mr.. Hannah spoke of the mania that
some people have for callecting old Diction-
aries, and said that he had detected re-
spected citizen of Brooklyn in the act of en-
riching his collection ut the expense of the
Long Island Historical Society.
Melvil Dewey, Librarian of the Columbia
College Library, advocated TIE adoption by
the club of system of information through
which one library would give notice to an
other of known thieves and suspected per-
sons. Miss Coe said she had prepared n
black list for the use of her library, and
should take pleasure In furnishing it to 9TH
er libraries. Mr. Hannah said that he had
detected prominent lawyer, formerly a
resident of Brooklyn, stealing newspapers
from his library. DR.. Buel, of the Union
Theological Seminary, said that his library
had suffered severely ut the hands of cleri-
cal book fanciers. A prominent clergyman
of this city kept one book for 20 years and
finally, after much Importantly, returned II
with the remark that he had obtained bet.
ter one. Mr.. Peoples said he also had dis
covered that clcrgymen were not to be
trusted any more tnan other persons. They
were also uncommonly addicted to defacine
books by marks and marginal notes. A
prominent Episcopal clergyman, whom he
detected by recognizing his hand writing,
frankly admitted that he had defaced q
book with marginal notes, and compliment
ly marked that he considered the book
more valuable since he had annotated il
than it wns before. Mr. Peoples thereupon
remarked that since fhe value of the book
had been enhanced he would be very glad
10 let him take il and furnish another in ex-
change.
Much testimony was also given as to the
necessity for watching ladies. Mr.. Han
nah said he was once warned by the Presi-
dent of one of the largest female seminaries
in Brooklyn that all schoolgirls would steal
books, and Mr.. Peoples told of detecting
the daughter of very wealthy man in the
act of carrying off fine books under her
cloak, and the wife of a Professor known to
everybody in the literary world as she was
about to put several books into her satchel.