Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2018 Issue

A Clever Idea Turns a Library Theft into a Fundraising Event

Scene from American Animals.

Scene from American Animals.

Here is the ultimate example of turning lemons to lemonade. A book theft from a university library was turned into a movie, which is now being used to raise funds for that library. The thieves certainly did not plan it this way.

 

This story goes back to 2004. Four college students, aged 19-20, hatched a less than well-considered plan to steal some books from the Special Collections Library of Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky. They would arrange a visit to the special collections library to view some valuable books, but then make off with them. In anticipation of their success, the set up a meeting with Christie's in New York to show them the books, some of which they had already identified.

 

They arranged a meeting with Mrs. Betty Jean Gooch, Special Collections Librarian, for December 16, 2004.They dressed up in costumes as older men, wigs and all, and approached the library. Apparently, they looked ridiculous, like something out of a theater performance, not like actual old men. They may even have been recognized. They left instead. They contacted Mrs. Gooch again, apologized for being out of town, and arranged for another meeting the next day. This one they kept.

 

On December 17, the four returned to the library. One stayed with the getaway van, one served as a lookout, and two entered the library. After some talk with Mrs. Gooch, they fired a small stun gun against her arm, tied her up, and blindfolded her. They then began gathering up the books they requested to see. The most valuable were four volumes of Audubon's double elephant folio of the first edition of Birds of America, valued at $4.8 million. Other items included a 1425 illuminated manuscript, valued at $200,000, a $450,000 circa 1500 book filled with woodcuts, some Audubon pencil drawings and his book on quadrupeds, and a first edition of On the Origin of Species.

 

The thieves anticipated the books would be bulky, so they took along a pink bed sheet to carry them. However, they were even heavier than they expected. They were forced to leave two of the Birds of America volumes behind, along with some other items, including one volume of Quadrupeds that got jammed in a drawer. With all that they could handle, the two got into a service elevator and headed for the employee-only exit.

 

Unfortunately for them, they were spotted by a second librarian as they attempted to escape. They had to hurry, dropping the other two volumes of the most valuable item, Audubon's Birds, before getting out of the library and into the waiting van.

 

Two days later, telling their parents they were off on a ski trip, the four drove to New York City, where they met with a representative of Christie's. They came with a story of representing some secretive collector. A suspicious Christie's said yes, these books could be sold. One of the young men left them his cell phone number. They returned to Kentucky, books in hand. Meanwhile, back home, police tracked down the email address the thieves had used to originally contact the librarian. It was a Yahoo account, and from that, they learned that same account had been used to contact Christie's. Christie's provided the phone number they had been given, which belonged to the account of one of the thieves' father, and to a phone used by his son. It was all over except for the official arrest, trial, and conviction, which all came in due order. The four were sentenced to six years each.

 

This whole event was sufficiently absurd and amateurish to warrant the making of a film of the account. The title is American Animals. It has been seen at film festivals, but the official release is set for June 1. It is a semi-documentary - part documentary, part entertainment. The thieves themselves appear, viewing the actors who play their parts. They have made the most of their misadventure (one of them also wrote a book). Even librarian and victim, Betty Jean Gooch, makes an appearance.

 

This brings us to the very clever fundraising idea. The producers of the movie have offered a prize to those who make a donation to the Special Collections Department of the Transylvania University Library. You get some number of entries, based on how many tickets you buy. The winner gets flown to New York, put up in a 4-star hotel, gets to meet actors Evan Peters, Blake Jenner, and Jared Abrahamson, view the film's premier, and attend the official after-party with cast and crew of American Animals. Unfortunately, we can only tell you about this clever fundraiser. It's too late to enter. The winner has already been drawn as the premier takes place the date this issue of Rare Book Monthly is released. But, all is not lost. You may be too late to enter the contest, but you are just in time to see the movie.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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