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Animal prints theft collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0544
 

Animal prints theft collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0544

This collection consists of circa 700 color prints stolen from the journals Ibis (the journal of the British Ornithologists’ Union) and Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, owned by the Fondren Library. The prints date from 1859-1915 and feature birds, bird eggs, bird nests and other animals. The prints were recovered after Blumberg’s 1991 arrest and returned to Fondren Library. The bags in which they are stored are the bags which Blumberg used for them. The folder names for the bags reflect his labeling on the bags. Theft correspondence and research dates from 1980-2004 and represents the Fondren Library’s efforts to cooperate with and assist in the Blumberg investigation. Additionally, Series III includes plates recovered from other unidentified sources, probably unrelated to the thefts from Ibis and the Journal of Zoology. These prints were found in the collections at the Woodson Researcher Center with no provenance information, but are similar in nature to the other plates in this collection, and so are being included here.

Access Restriction

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Dates
Creation: 1859-2004
Extent
1.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Related Names
Rice University
Rice University
Blumberg, Stephen Carrie
Language of Materials
English

Composite of information on stolen plates

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 1

Two page sheet detailing the bibliographic description of the journal Ibis and police reports detailing contents of plastic bags containing stolen plates.

Hartfield catalogue of rare books

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 2

Catalogue from Hartfield’s Fine and Rare Books store dated February 11, 1985. Contains information of the value of some of the stolen plates (listing # L-74).

Printout details the location and volumes of journals held by Fondren from which plates were stolen.

Bibliographic listings and police report

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 4

Photocopies of illustration listings contained in Alfred Guernsey’s book “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War” dated 1868.

Listings of illustrations in volumes

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 5

Bibliographic listings of Fondren’s holdings that are missing (with sample plates), dated May 12, 1981.

Collection of catalog listings

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 6

A collection of handwritten and typed notes containing bibliographic listings of journals and books originally thought to hold the stolen plates. Annotations by librarians concerning the status of the plates are also present.

Photocopies of Ibis plate listings

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 7

A collection photocopies from Ibis’s plate listings in the order in which they appear in their original publications.

Titles not reviewed or reported to F.B.I.

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 8

The Shinn Lists (1982)

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 9

One hundred forty-four page booklet edited by William Moffett of Oberlin College listing the books stolen by another book thief, James Shinn. This booklet was created to facilitate communication between universities that had been victims of Shinn when the recovered books ended up at the wrong libraries.

"Stephen Blumberg and His Stolen Books"

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 10

Printout from the Web of the November 1991 edition of the Abbey Newsletter detailing Stephen Blumberg’s life and history of his thefts.

1864

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 11

1865

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 12

1866

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 13

1868

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 14

1869

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 15

1870

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 16
 

1871

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 17

1872

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 18

1874

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 19

1875

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 20

1876

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 21

1879

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 22

1880

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 23

1881

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 24

1882

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 25

1883

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 26

1884

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 27

1885

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 28

1887

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 29

1889

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 30

1896

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 31

1897

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 32

1899

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 33

1900

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 34

no date

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 35
 

1859

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 1

1860

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 2

1861

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 3

1862

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 4

1863

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 5

1864

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 6

1865

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 7

1867

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 8

1869

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 9

1870

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 10

1874

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 11

1876

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 12

1877

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 13

1882

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 14

1884

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 15

1885

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 16

1886

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 17

1887

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 18

1888

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 19

1889

 File — Box: 2, Folder: 20
 
 
 
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