A Valuable Book Disappeared from a Library...or Did It? A Sign of the Times
- by Michael Stillman
The 200-year-old ledger (Genazym auction photo).
A valuable book disappeared from the collection of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Was it stolen, maybe lost? A rabbi set about to unravel this mystery. The answer turned out not to be what he expected.
This story comes from the Jewish Telegraph Agency and was written by investigative reporter Asaf Shalev. The investigative rabbi was Rabbi Elli Fischer. The story begins when Rabbi Fischer noticed a 200-year-old handwritten ledger by a Tiberias rabbi offered at auction with a $100,000 opening bid. The auction image showed a stamp with a faded number Fischer recognized as being that of a collection, likely a public institution. How did it get from an institutional collection to an anonymous owner now offering it for sale? He saw that as unusual, possibly suspicious.
Rabbi Fischer decided to check the number against the collection at the National Library of Israel. He got a match, but the document was only available at the library on microfilm. What he discovered was the original came from the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. The seminary is the main academic institution of Conservative Judaism and its library houses one of the most important collections of Jewish learning in the world.
However, Fischer had another surprise when he looked at the JTS catalogue. The document was not listed. Had someone removed both the document and its listing? Was it stolen? Did the library remove it intentionally? The latter was concerning as this was not a known practice of the library. Sometimes, it sold off duplicate material or items of lesser importance, but this was a one-of-a-kind significant, unique manuscript.
When Fischer spread word of his findings many, including JTS librarians, were alarmed. The library had shut down in 2016 as part of a redevelopment project and their books had been transferred to a warehouse. Theft was a major possibility, but some people became concerned that the seminary was using the redevelopment project as an opportunity to quietly sell some of its collection.
The seminary was formed at the turn of the last century and contributions at that time gave it almost unlimited funds to build one of the world's finest collections of Judaica. However, with the turn to the current century, funds became tighter. In 2015, the seminary's original library building was sold off for a large sum and demolished for a luxury residence tower. The new library will be smaller, with much of its collection housed off-site. Some people saw this as a move away from being a custodian of Jewish books to focus on its mission of training rabbis.
It turned out that selling pieces of the collection was the explanation for this item showing up at auction. It had been sold to a private collector in 2017 who had put it up for auction. According to the chief librarian, he had been told by higher officials to raise a certain amount of money, and to do so by selling pieces of the collection without significantly harming the seminary's mission. With the ledger having been digitized and thus still available for research, it was felt this was an item that could be spared.
This was not the first time the library has sold material to raise funds. The lack of publicity of the sale was explained as unnecessary because it was a private sale, though one imagines this was a way of avoiding the controversy that likely would result. The JTS library is hardly the only one to face financial issues that result in hard decisions. We are not here to judge the right or wrong of these actions. There are strong opinions on both sides. This is simply the telling of a tale that is becoming increasingly common in the library world, as long-standing missions come into conflict with present-day financial realities. There are no good answers, only unpleasant ones.
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.
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