Page posted 4 May 2002. Please send comments, or further links
to Tony Campbell:
From January 2001 onwards, a sequence of thefts from rare map collections
in various parts of Europe was reported. The libraries known to have
been affected were in Aberystwyth, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and
The Hague. An Englishman, Melvin Nelson Perry (born 1956), was convicted
of the theft from Helsinki University Library [the six maps involved were
listed in the IMCoS
Journal]. The links below, arranged
in chronological order, comprise the online announcements so far
identified. Much of the information they contain about the way the
thieves operated remains relevant.
The web and the Internet discussion lists provide an excellent medium for
spreading information, fast and widely. Several messages about the
European thefts were cross-posted, among others to Ex Libris, MapHist and
the Map Trade list. The Royal Library in Copenhagen used their web site
to post a CCTV image of the suspect, and some of the links below include
pictures of Melvin Perry.
However, the random nature of such distribution meant that many who
needed the information never received it, or only after their own
library had suffered. For suggestions as to how matters could be
improved in future, see How should we
respond to early map thefts?.
For links to the North American map thief, Gilbert Bland, see:-
< http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/2000/04/msg00190.html > Missing Books and Manuscripts (Section 5 'Maps')
Miles Harvey,
The Island of Lost Maps (Random House, 2000)
Calendar of theft announcements (2001)
(A number of messages were posted to the MapHist list. Some were
repeated to other lists and are recorded below. Others were sent only
to MapHist, whose archive is not available on the web but via a
CD-ROM)
February 2. < http://cartome.org/mapthft.htm > 'Map
theft!!' - (Message to MapHist about the Copenhagen theft, from
Henrik Dupont, providing some details of what was taken, with an
enlargeable CCTV image of the suspect)
February 5 (updated). < http://www.kb.dk/tyveri/index-en.htm > 'A serious theft has occurred
at the Royal Library [Copenhagen], January 2001' (includes the
CCTV image of the suspect - the message was repeated on various lists
afterwards).
March 2. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010302IE6&pvm=20010302 > 'Gentleman thief suspected of stealing valuable maps from Helsinki
University Library' (Helsingin Sanomat International Edition -
including a small, high quality photograph of Melvin Nelson Perry, born
1956 [different to that issued on 5 September])
March 2. < http://www.museum-security.org/01/058.html#2 > 'Rare
maps stolen from Finnish collection' [Helsinki University
Library] (Reuters English News Service - copied to the Ex Libris and
Map Trade lists
March 5. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010305IE4&pvm=20010305 > 'Helsinki
University Library had been warned of British map thief'
(Helsingin Sanomat International Edition)
March 8. 'Stolen maps:
Stockholm' (posted by Göran Bäärnhielm to the Map Trade list,
providing a few details of the atlases affected)
March 12. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010312IE7&pvm=20010312 > 'Map thief strikes in Sweden as well'
(re the Stockholm theft - Helsingin Sanomat International Edition)
March 21. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010321IE4&pvm=20010321 > 'British
police arrest suspected map thief' (re the Helsinki theft -
Helsingin Sanomat International Edition)
March 27. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010327IE9&pvm=20010327 > 'Two
maps stolen from Helsinki University Library recovered'
(Helsingin Sanomat International Edition)
May 23. 'Antiques
Ripper on the Loose' (a posting to the Map Trade list, reproducing
pieces in the 'Independent' and 'Mirror' for 11 April about the thefts
from four atlases owned by the National Library of Wales,
Aberystwyth)
May 28. 'Kaarten uit de KB gestolen' (a brief news notice, in Dutch, about the theft of
17th century maps from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague at the end of February)
August 7. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010807IE6&pvm=20010807 > 'Suspected
map thief arrives in Finland to face charges' (re the Helsinki
theft - Helsingin Sanomat International Edition - a translation
from the Finnish version was posted to the MapHist list by Pellervo
Kokkonen on the same day)
September 5. < http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20010905IE9&pvm=20010905 > 'Prison
term for British map thief' (re the Helsinki theft -
Helsingin Sanomat International Edition - including a small, high
quality photograph of Melvin Nelson Perry (different to that issued on 2 March), and noting that, of the six maps stolen, the 1486 Ulm (not 'Venice') Ptolemy and the Blaeu America were still missing)
For later articles in newspapers, journals, etc., see News about thefts
