Rare Copernicus book stolen from Polish library

[Charlotte Douglas]

>Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 10:17:42 -0500 (EST)
>From: Karen McKenzie <Karen_McKenzie at ago.net>
>Subject: Rare Copernicus book stolen from Polish library
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>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>>From: Museum Security Network <securma at xs4all.nl>
>>Subject:      Rare Copernicus book stolen from Polish library
>>
>>Rare Copernicus book stolen from Polish library
>>07:28 a.m. Nov 25, 1998 Eastern
>>
>>WARSAW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A rare, first edition of a ground-breaking
>>book by 16th-century astronomer Nicholas Copernicus has been stolen
>>from a scientific library in southern Poland, police said on
>>Wednesday. It was the second theft in eastern Europe this year of a
>>copy of ``De Revolutionibus,'' a 1543 work in which Copernicus
>>presented his revolutionary thesis that it was the Earth which
>>revolved around the Sun. The book disappeared from the Polish Academy
>>of Science's library in the city of Krakow on Tuesday, police
>>spokeswoman Joanna Maciejewska told Reuters. The theft may have been
>>ordered by a private collector, she said. ``It is not that easy simply
>>to sell the book or offer it at an auction because it is so rare and
>>well known,'' she said. Another copy of the book was taken from
>>Ukraine's National Vernadsky Library in August and has still not been
>>traced. The value of the 200-page book, of which only about a dozen
>>copies exist, was estimated by librarians quoted by Polish newspapers
>>at 250,000 to 400,000 German marks ($147,100 to $235,000). ``But most
>>experts say it is simply priceless,'' Maciejewska said. The book was
>>probably been stolem by a man in his early 40s who used forged or
>>stolen identification documents to borrow it for research in the
>>reading room, she said. ``The man sat at his table for some time
>>examining the book and then told the librarian he was going to the
>>toilet,'' Maciejewska said. The man, who left behind his coat, never
>>returned. The library has no security guards. ``The librarian saw that
>>the book was lying on the table all the time but it later turned out
>>it was only the cardboard cover,'' Maciejewska said. Police were
>>working on a sketch of the man and would publish it shortly, she said.
>>
>>
>>($1-1.700 German Mark)
>>
>>Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.
>>-----------------------
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