The Peoria Barnes & Noble (from Barnes & Noble website).
Rumors of their death notwithstanding, we constantly are reminded that printed books are still a valuable commodity in the worst possible way. People steal them. An Illinois man was recently sentenced to 21 months in prison on charges relating to the theft of books. It could have been ten times as long, as the charges to which he pled guilty carry a sentence as long as 20 years. That stiff a sentence would have been unusual, but since the guidelines called for a sentence of 27-33 months, he made out like a bandit, so to speak.
James Stewart, 63, of Galesburg, Illinois, mainly took new books from Barnes & Noble stores. A favorite of his was medical textbooks, because, as any student knows, there's nothing among new books that can compete for price with a Shakespeare First Folio like a textbook. Medical textbooks must be among the worst offenders. Many were taken from the Barnes & Noble in nearby Peoria, though Mr. Stewart must have hit the road at times as stores in Phoenix and Denver were also listed. He evidently made enough on his enterprise, which was described as his sole source of income, to be able to travel.
Many of the books he took were electronically tagged, but Mr. Stewart figured out how to remove those tags. He would often go back several times in a single day to take more. Many trips is not surprising as I don't know how you sneak out with even one medical textbook without it bulging out from somewhere.
It is unknown exactly how many books Mr. Stewart stole, but it was many hundreds, if not thousands. The charges covered the years 2002-2013. Part of the reason his sentence was below the guidelines was that this was a first time offense, though there is something ironic in that. The number of thefts he committed must have been enormous, but for 12 years he got away with it. Had he committed only a fraction as many thefts, but been caught more often, his sentence likely would have been longer. As it was, he pled guilty only to wire fraud, not theft. Many of the books were sold on eBay, though in the beginning he sold the books at flea markets.
The prosecution also set the amount of restitution at $229,269. However, there's a kicker in that. It only covers the years 2011-2013. The thefts began in 2002.
Mr. Stewart will begin serving his sentence in May. There will not be a wonderful life ahead for a long time for this James Stewart.
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
