By Pat Williams / book reviews

During World War II, various European societies experienced large numbers of books that were stolen, part as a reaction to the devastation of war, and part as a loss of moral conscience. As clever perpetrators were successful in their acts of thievery, the practice spread until it had become a world-wide problem.

Through a friend, author Bartlett came into possession of a krautterbuch (loosely translated: an herbal book), a valuable book of botanical medicine published in 1630. While pleased with the volume, its history, and the physical anomalies, Bartlett was also frustrated with the knowledge that the book had originally been stolen.

In looking for the original owner, Bartlett became aware of two unusual men whose lives were intertwined with the illegal procurement of books; the first, John Gilkey, was a man whose life actions were the result of his obsession with owning books, and second, Ken Sanders, a bookstore owner with opposite goals, and whose obsession was in tracking thieves and obtaining punishment for those who stole books.

Bartlett had become fascinated with rare book thieves, and had spent years researching the oddities and eccentricities of such robbers, as well as the unusual characteristics of the books chosen to be taken. This recent nonfiction book is the result of her detailed investigation, and into which she has cleverly woven these intriguing facts along with many pertinent historical facts.

The author became acquainted with Sanders as she was researching the fairly common crime of book theft, especially among rare book dealers, and he in turn, acquainted her with the reputation of Gilkey as being one commonly-known thief.

While there are just a few renowned thieves who specialize in stealing rare books, John Gilkey was the most successful person of this ilk in recent years.

Gilkey’s sense of right and wrong was skewed. He felt that he was “owed” books because he was smarter than others and because he could use knowledge contained within the book’s pages. He also felt that if he could steal the books, sometime in the future he would be able to make money on the exchange if he ever decided to sell it.