Preliminary Hearing Held in $8 Million Book Theft Case
- by Michael Stillman
Unsent email allegedly prepared by John Schulman.
A preliminary hearing was held at the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in the case of the $8 million theft of books and maps from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library. Two individuals, library archivist Gregory Priore and Pittsburgh area bookseller John Schulman, have been charged with the crime. The next step, a formal arraignment, has been scheduled for November 29. Meanwhile, it is expected there will be meetings between the defendants' lawyers and the District Attorney to hammer out common understandings about the parameters of the case if not a settlement of charges.
The Carnegie Library theft was not a one-time event. It continued over a period of almost two decades. Archivist Priore has already admitted to the process of sneaking numerous books out of the library with no intention of returning them. He claims he delivered them to Schulman, who in turn sold them through the Caliban Book Shop, only a block away. Books that have been traced to the Carnegie Library ended up with other dealers and collectors who purchased them from Caliban. Prints removed from books were also sold on eBay. Some were found in Caliban's inventory. Schulman's attorney has hinted at one possible defense for his client, that Schulman was unaware that Priore had improperly removed them from the Carnegie Library. In at least one case, Schulman had explained to a bookseller to whom he had sold a Carnegie book that it had been properly deaccessioned from the library.
Perhaps in anticipation of or in response to this line of defense, the District Attorney presented email correspondence to the court during this latest hearing. One may have sounded particularly incriminatory. It was said to have been written by Schulman. However, the email was never actually sent to anyone. Dated March 15, 2017, it shows as having been sent by Schulman to himself, possibly to save it for future use. It reads as if it were a list of suggestions or instructions on how to cover up a book theft. The presumed/alleged eventual intended recipient was Priore, though there is no mention of his name or position at the library. The timing of the email coincides with the audit the library was taking of its rare book collection, which turned up the fact that many valuable books were missing.
The unsent email offers eight possible actions. The first says to create a list dated 12 years earlier, with updates, of books discovered missing from the shelves. Some would be the titles of stolen books, other would not. Some would say they were misshelved and found, others still missing. Another suggested revising a 1991 appraisal to remove some of the stolen books, implying they were already missing much earlier. Another said to note that local booksellers, Caliban included, had been notified of missing books and saying the library markings would make them "practically unsaleable."
Moving on, a suggestion says to emphasize the porousness of the Oliver (rare books) Room, how many people have keys, sometimes the door isn't locked, and so on. Other suggestions were that some books might be out for repair, loaned to other parts of the museum, and that some may have been misplaced as a result of the closing of part of the facility years earlier.
Again, we need to emphasize there is no indication this email was ever sent to Mr. Priore nor a concession from Mr. Schulman that he actually wrote it. The authenticity or explanation of it will need to be determined at a later date. The District Attorney presented other emails involving the parties. In one directed to a different person at the library, Schulman purportedly shows an interest in purchasing books the library no longer wants, but not ones with deaccession or other library stamps as they have lost almost all of their value.
Along with maintaining that Mr. Schulman was not aware that Priore was illegally removing books from the library, his attorney has indicated that he believes the $8 million price tag is grossly inflated. He believes that the number and value of missing books is much smaller, and he hopes to work with the District Attorney to determine a more accurate figure. At that point, he indicated, he is hopeful that a resolution of the entire matter may be reached.
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 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 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 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.