The Tucson citizen., 1902-05-16
NOTED BOOK THIEVES
HISTORICAL FIGURES WHO STOLE
UNIQUE VOLUMES.

inspector General LibrL was the
King of the Biblioklept Tribe-A
Cardinal, bishop and Priest In.
fected with the Mania.
BOOK stealing is an art upon which
much ingenuity has been expended.
One never knows in what form 1t will
next break out. 1t Is an incident by no
means uncommon In Booksellers row
Tor bibliopole TO be offered a book
which had been stolen from his next
door neighbor. There is something
more than tradition to the effect that
bookseller has on occasion purchased
BOOK taken minute or two previous
" from the shelves outside his shop!
A favorite mode of stealing books
from public libraries Ia to procure n
Dook, sit down to read it and then
wrap 1t up in an overcoat and after
this to take up paper or magazine.
The rest Is easily guessed. The public
libraries suffer In all sorts OF ways, for
here the accumulated wisdom of the
thief finds plenty of scope. Some of
She tribe have mania for old directo-
I1es. Librarians complain frequently
f the clerical thief OF sermons and
theological literature.
| Novels and books Of the bibliophIle"
Jas the French call them) one can un-
derstand being stolen, but sermons
and theology! Women. more or less
generally more - respectfully dressed.
are often objects of suspicion with H.
brarians. for the "receptivity" of cloaks
Is Infinite. and the feelings" of the
culprft must also be considered. AS a
general rule. the thief is well dressed
and educated and frequently well to
do.
Whatever may be the causes which
prompt person to steal books, there
is always this consolation -- he Is In
good company. This balm may not be
a very healing one to the soul of the
person whose books are stolen. but 1t
must be consolatory to the thief when
repentlng In prison to know that some
great and good men have been touched
with the same species OF insanity.
Hearne. In his johannes GlastonI.
ensis." more than hints that Sir Thorn.
az Bodiey had weakness In this di.
rection. "If you hold" he warns Sir
Henry Saville. "any book so deare as
that you would bee loath to have him
out OF your sight, set him aside" etc.
Moore. bishop of Ely. has likewise
come under such a stigma. The anec-
dote runs to this effect: A gentleman
calling on q friend who had a very
choice library found him unusually
busy In putting his best books out Of |
sight. Upon asking his view In this he |
was answered, Don't you know the |
bishop Of - dimes with me todayT p
The very king OF book gtealers was
Librl, who. as inspector general OF
French libraries under Louis Philippe,
had special facilities for helping him |
self and whose known thefts have been |
valued at 10000. The most interesting |
illustration Of this mans depredations |
was exposed in 1858. when Lord Ash
burnham issued translation OF the
Pentateuch from Latin manuscript
which had been purchased by the late
Lord Ashburnham from Libri, who had
sold 1t under the condition that 1t was
not to be published for twenty years.
1t had been stolen In 1S47 from the
Lyons library. and the last clause OF
the agreement. therefore, could be cas-
lily understood. Libri evidently was not
one Of those whom Jules Janin de-
scribes as people who don't think 1t
thieving to steal book unless you sell
1t afterward."
Innocent N, when still Mgr. Pam
philio, stole book from Du Moustier.
who was himself book thief and ,
ought to have been en- courant with the
devices and designs of his own weak
nesses. 1t is refreshing to come across
an example when the tables are SO .
turned, and if anything
would induce an honest man to turn ,
book thief 1t should be the exhilarat-
Ing fun Of stealing from another thief. !
II is reported, however. that Du Nous
out OF the house.
Catherine de- Medici went In for steal
Ing books by wholesale and barefaced. 4,
She seized the fine library of Marshal !
Etrozzi and promised to pay his son for Z
1t In installments, but never farthing I
did he get. {
OF another and equally extreme type q
was the Spanish priest Don Vlncento,
" tho sold books and then murdered the
purchasers to regain possession OF his
coveted treasures. Like most Of the
tribe, he came to grief at !
asst. The original edition CASE Of the
'Furs ordinations fetes per los glori- '
osos Reys de Arago ais regnicois del
Regne de Valencia" was offered for
sale by auction and after a long and s
obstinate competition was knocRed
!own to a bookseller named Paxtot.
A week after Paxtot's shop was
burned down. and he was suffocated 7
It the same time. Suspicion was d.
'ected toward Don Vincento. whose
'esidence was searched, and there at
a hn tn htrl.A