Cherished Swedish books returned

Over more than a decade, a librarian entrusted with protecting Sweden's most cherished books allegedly used his post at the royal library in Stockholm to steal dozens of manuscripts and sold them under an alias to collectors around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the authorities.


On Wednesday, two of those books were returned to the Kungliga Biblioteket, the National Library of Sweden, after being traced to a rare-books shop in Baltimore. In a repatriation ceremony at the offices of the US Attorney in Manhattan, the books were handed back to Swedish authorities.


The handover was a small step in what has been a nearly decade-long journey for Swedish officials who in 2004 discovered more than 56 "rare or one-of-a-kind books" were stolen from the library by senior librarian Anders Burius, according to court documents filed in federal court. To date, four have been recovered, including three in the US, officials said.


"We had an inventory and [Mr. Burius] knew we would find out these books were stolen," said Jerker Rydén, a legal adviser to the library. "It's very difficult for an outsider to steal these books. You have to be an insider. That's the problem, you don't find out until it's too late."


Swedish authorities were led to the missing books when a researcher in Europe came to the library looking for "Das illustrate Mississippithal," a 19th-century book of lithographs by Henry Lewis, who traveled along the Mississippi River between 1846 and 1849.


Librarians could not find the book and asked the researcher to return six months later, said Steven Feldman, a New York lawyer hired by the library. When the book did not surface, the library began an inventory of its rare-books collection.


"He knew they were doing this very detailed investigation and he confessed to an employee," Mr Feldman said.
Mr Burius told authorities he stole books from the library beginning in 1995 and sold or consigned them to Ketterer Kunst, an auction house in Germany, under the alias Carl or Karl Fields, according to court documents.


"He would take them in small chunks to Ketterer and sell them under an assumed name for cash after erasing markings that would show where they came from," Mr. Feldman said. He said Ketter then sold them at auctions to buyers all over the world.


To cover his tracks, Mr. Burius would allegedly steal cards from card catalogs, Mr. Feldman said, adding that Mr. Burius did not realize that because the books were so old, there were older catalogs that ultimately led investigators to verify the books were missing.


Shortly after confessing, Mr. Burius was released, went to his Stockholm home and committed suicide, severing a gas line before slitting his wrists, Mr. Feldman said. An appliance in the apartment later sparked an explosion that destroyed several nearby apartments and injured a number of people.


The case would spark intense national interest leading to a made-for-TV movie and a radio show, Mr. Feldman said.