Rare Book Monthly
Articles - October - 2008 Issue
Arrests Made in Theft of First Book Printed in the American West
The main charge involves the theft of items of cultural significance worth more than $100,000. The Maxwell Code alone covers that amount. A copy was sold at Cowan's Auctions of Cincinnati last year for $103,500. Cowan's had noted on its website that the Hays Library had one of the few other copies in existence, which may have sparked McCarty's interest in their copy.
Not surprisingly, the Hays Library has stated that it will put in place stricter regulations concerning access to rare books. And, in some very positive news, the FBI announced that it has found the missing copies of the Maxwell Code and Freeman Code. The latter took a bit longer to recover as it was found overseas, but both are in federal custody. Now, the good people of Ohio can get back to what they normally do every four years - decide who will be our next president.
