<i>The Police Blotter:</i> eBay Buyers Beware; Book Thief Sentenced to 2 Years
- by Michael Stillman
Ebay seller bev103162smith had 99% positive feedback, with just a couple recent negatives for nonshipment.
"You have a deep love of books, perhaps so deep that it goes to excess." That quote may sound like it came from the spouse of a bibliophile, but the speaker was British Judge Peter Adler. The occasion was the sentencing of Farhad Hakimzadeh for numerous thefts from the British and Bodleian (Oxford) Libraries. Hakimzadeh had pleaded guilty to thefts of pages cut from ten books at those two venerated British libraries, though the belief is he stole many more. Judge Adler concluded his comments with a two-year sentence in the big house for Hakimzadeh. He will have plenty of time to ponder his activities that remain unfathomable to most others.
From 1997-2004, Hakimzadeh, a British national who emigrated from Iran after that nation's revolution, made regular visits to the libraries, scalpel in hand (actually, underhand). A scholar, writer, and successful businessman, no one imagined he came for anything other than scholarly research. Instead, Hakimzadeh would trudge off to dark parts of the libraries, where security cameras did not scan, and slice valuable pages from the antiquarian texts. Most of those books dealt with that area of the world today known as Iran and its neighboring states.
His reason for committing these crimes remains hard to understand. Hakimzadeh seems to be a man of substantial means, not needing to resort to theft to build a collection. Perhaps some of the pages he stole were simply unobtainable elsewhere. Many pages he removed from the libraries were found inserted in copies of his own books. It appears he was trying to improve or augment copies in his own collection, hence the judge's comment about his too-great love of books. He does not appear to have been financially motivated as with American page-cutter Forbes Smiley, who stole maps sliced from books and sold them. However, many of the pages Hakimzadeh took have not been found and it is not clear what he did with them.
Dr Kristian Jensen, Head of British Collections at the British Library, stated, "these thefts have struck at the very heart of the British Library's historic collections making their loss and the vandalism that accompanied their theft especially harmful. The violation of the collections by Hakimzadeh transcends mere monetary loss; his victims are the researchers of the future who will not be able to consult this material."
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
Sotheby’s: William Golding. Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
Sotheby’s: John Milton. Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD
