Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 09:21:42 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Jed Kusterer Subject: Re: on-line art auction Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Disposition: inline Having managed an art library, let me give my opinion. The real outrage is that many of the Audubon prints on the market now around the country have been stolen out of library books by professional thieves using razor blades in the library reading rooms. Other targets are art photography books, rare map and document collections, Currier & Ives, etc. University and Public libraries are the most heavily targeted. There is a serious black market in these materials, and not just for wealthy collectors. Many of the plates end up in "antique shops" and other marketplaces. The FBI has broken up rings of thieves and, in 1 case I know of, returned some stolen Audubon prints among other materials to a university library where I was working. I don't know anything about the on-line auction that was advertized here on MD-Osprey. Perhaps they are new prints. In general, I encourage people who buy older "antique" book plates anywhere to ask about the origin of the materials. Sorry for the off-topic post. I couldn't resist. I won't continue this thread. Jed Kusterer Washington DC >>> Warblerick@AOL.COM 03/13/03 05:34PM >>> In a message dated 3/13/2003 10:26:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, weigant@USNA.EDU writes: > . You all should be aware that > such an offering represents an outrage to bibliographers and bibliophiles - > - cutting up > beautiful books solely because the profits from selling individulal prints > are even higher than > selling the books themselves. > C'est la vie! Rick Sussman Ashton,MD warblerick@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================