Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2015 Issue

New York Public Library and Private Party Battle Over Million Dollar Books

New York Public Library.

New York Public Library.

One of those tricky ownership cases has arisen in New York over eight books that once were in a library, but ended up in private hands. The library claims the books are theirs, the private party says they are hers. The books have been in private hands for quite awhile. They once were in the library. How they traveled from point A to point B is a mystery.

 

The library is the renown New York Public Library. The private party is Margaret Tanchuck, a 50-year-old lady from a nearby suburb. Ms. Tanchuck said she discovered the books when cleaning out the jewelry store of her late father. She does not know where or how he obtained them, but believes they have been in the family for nearly three decades.

 

One more thing: These books are very valuable. This is not a contest over books deaccessioned or pilfered long ago that are worth a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars. There are eight books in total. Seven are bibles printed between 1672 and 1861. The eighth item is a manuscript workbook from Benjamin Franklin's printing house from 1759-1776. This item has been estimated to be worth more than $1 million, perhaps several million dollars.

 

Ms. Tanchuck brought the books to Doyle New York, the auction house, for an appraisal. Doyle soon realized they had once been held by the New York Public Library as they still had call numbers on the spines. New York Public quickly claimed they were still the owner, saying the books had been stolen. The library never filed any missing book reports, evidently having been unaware they were missing. However, their records indicated that they must have disappeared sometime between 1988 and 1991.

 

Ms. Tanchuck brought an action to have the books returned to her. However, New York Public contacted the U.S. Attorney to gain assistance in recovering the books, saying they were stolen. The Attorney weighed in on the library's side, demanding possession of the books. Meanwhile, the case was brought before a grand jury to determine whether to charge Ms. Tanchuck with knowingly attempting to sell stolen property. Her lawyer has responded angrily to such a charge, saying his client does not know how her father came in possession of the books, but believes the fact that New York Public made no attempt to report them stolen for almost three decades evidences that the books were not stolen, but transferred in some other manner.

 

Cases like this are not unusual these days. Books once owned by libraries or other government institutions show up in private hands. They departed the library many years ago, perhaps over a century, under terms unknown today. They might have been stolen, but more likely they were not deemed of value at the time and either given or thrown away. However, with no bill of sale existing, if there ever was one, the exact circumstances of its leaving is impossible to determine. Meanwhile, the book, thought to be worth little if anything at the time it left, is today worth a lot of money. The library wants it back, the possessor believes his or her ancestors obtained it legally, and a battle results, the court left to determine whether the book belongs to the long time possessor or the institution which, at least once upon a time, owned it.

 

This case is evidently different. Obviously, the U.S. Attorney believes it was stolen or he would not have intervened. Certainly, this case differs from the typical one in the item's value, particularly the value at the time it disappeared. This is not something that became valuable only after many years elapsed from the time it was removed from the library. Benjamin Franklin's workbook was very valuable in 1988. New York Public did not deaccession it for taking up valuable shelf space and stick it in the dumpster, at least not intentionally. Did Ms. Tanchuck's father obtain it illegally? Did someone without the authority give it to him? Did he he buy it cheaply from the library or pick it up as trash because the library did not realize its value (hard to imagine)? Did he obtain the book from someone else who got it in some unknown manner from the library? Did he sneak it out the door? We don't know how he got the book, and maybe we never will. As to how this case will be resolved, I would bet on the library. I think a court will ultimately conclude that a million dollar book did not leave the library with the owner's acquiescence.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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.

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