Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2006 Issue

Who Says Crime Doesn't Pay?

Move over Martha!

Move over Martha!


By Bruce McKinney

Dostoevesky must be rolling over in his grave as the connective tissue between crime and punishment has recently been whittled down to a thread in the guilty pleadings of Edward Forbes Smiley III in state and federal courtrooms in New Haven. Mr. Smiley, the Edward Scissorhands of the antiquarian map business, reached an attractive plea bargain agreement with various authorities and now waits only judicial blessings to begin his penal retreat that prosecutors have promised to keep brief. Judicial guidelines suggest 57 to 71 months and the sentence is expected to be something less than the minimum. Whether an autobiography is in the offing is unclear but the time to write it has been mapped out.

Mr. Smiley has acknowledged in court he removed 97 maps from rare atlases and books at seven important research libraries: New York Public Library [32], the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale [11]; Boston Public Library [34]; Beinecke at Yale [9]; Houghton Library at Harvard [8], Newberry Library [2] and British Library [1]. It is unclear if institutions that avoided the same fate did so because they had better security, poorer maps or haven't yet noticed.

It's particularly appropriate that Mr. Smiley excised many European maps as his plea agreement closely parallels the European concept of penitence and lenient justice. In the American courts his treatment is a function of cooperation, skillful lawyering and his highly peculiar status as a first-time-offender given that he has pled guilt to stealing 97 antique maps from 7 libraries over seven and a half years. Apparently what is meant by first-time-offender is actually first-time-caught. Charles Manson would have benefited from this logic.

That many of the stolen maps are being returned is a great relief to the aggrieved libraries and a heads-up that many are responding to with added security. At Cleveland Public which recently installed security cameras patrons have been observed in many states, none of them Ohio. Mr. Smiley, the deus ex machina for many of these recent security installations and upgrades, may someday become a Jeopardy clue as a result. No doubt many library patrons who in the past have been able to see splendid material first hand will be barred access in the future because Mr. Smiley abused his.

That a well educated white man in the highly civilized environs of Connecticut is to receive a merciful punishment is a testament to the American judicial system and evidence that it sometimes works. That Blacks, Latinos and poor whites who do not have maps to barter often serve much longer sentences for much smaller crimes is not. There is a message in this plea agreement and we don't need a map to figure it out.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    10 September 2024
    The Shem Tov Bible
  • Koller Auctions
    Books & Autographs
    18 September 2024
    Koller, Sep. 18: Cowper, William. Anatomia corporum humanorum ab excellentissimis… Utrecht, 1750. CHF 25,000 to 40,000
    Koller, Sep. 18: Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.
    Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
    Koller Auctions
    Books & Autographs
    18 September 2024
    Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. The birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, including many new species recently discovered in Australia. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
    Koller, Sep. 18: Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Sep. 18: Pfinzing, Melchior. Die geverlicheiten und einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen…, Nürnberg, 1517. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
  • Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HAMILTON, Sir William - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: 1779. € 50,000 - 80,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KIRCHER, Athanasius - Turris Babel. Amsterdam: 1679. € 3,000 - 5,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: EDWARDS, George.London - Gleanings of Natural History. Londra: 1758-1764. € 7,000 - 10,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Cometographia. Danzica: 1668. € 20,000 - 30,000
    Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KUPKA, Frantisek - Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Parigi: 1926. € 10,000 - 15,000
  • Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 732. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 361. One of Ortelius' Most Decorative Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1585) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 55. Early Edition of One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1545) Est. $6,000 - $7,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 27. Fascinating Japanese Satirical Map of the World Published After WWI (1924) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 637. Complete Example of De Bry's Petits Voyages, Part VIII (1606) Est. $4,750 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 50. Extremely Rare Uncut Sheet from Sylvanus's 1511 Edition of Ptolemy's Geographia (1511) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 399. One of the Most Desired Maps of Ireland by John Speed (1610) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 689. Pictorial Map of Melbourne in the Style of MacDonald Gill (1934) Est. $900 - $1,100
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 652. Blaeu's Carte-a-Figures Map of Africa in Full Contemporary Color (1663) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 729. Hand-Colored Image of David Handing the Letter to Uriah (1518) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Sept 11): Lot 533. Eight-Volume Set Recounting Travels of Anacharsis in Greece (1789) Est. $800 - $950

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