The former archivist of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's rare book collection told investigators he conspired with the owner of anOakland bookseller since the 1990s to steal and resell items taken from there.

Gregory Priore, who was terminated from the library on June 28, 2017, and John Schulman, who co-owns Caliban Book Shop, are under investigationfor theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief, according to hundreds of pages of documents unsealed Thursday in Allegheny County CommonPleas Court.

No charges have been filed in the case.

The documents, which include applications for search warrants, inventories from completed searches and affidavits laying out probable cause in theinvestigation, have been sealed since last summer.

They reveal that a total of nearly 320 items were removed from the Oliver Room at the library's main branch in Oakland, valued at more than $8million.

Of those items, dozens were recovered in the Caliban Book Shop Warehouse in Wilkinsburg during searches there in August, court records show. Amongthem, "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," Isaac Newton, 1803, and "Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica," Isaac Newton, 1833.Also recovered were maps and plates and loose pages believed to have been cut from books in the collection.

The affidavit noted the recovery at the warehouse of two Mercator-Hondius maps in a plastic sleeve, which also contained an eBay receipt showing asale of the items for $149.99 from Nov. 2, 2008. The payment was sent to an email address of rarebkstore@hotmail.com, which investigators saidbelonged to Caliban.

Investigators with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office were called in in June 2017 and, according to the documents unsealed Thursday,began executing search warrants in August.

Among the places searched were the homes of both Mr. Priore and Mr. Schulman, as well as the Caliban Book Shop and warehouse.

It wasn't until the search of his home on Aug. 24, according to an affidavit, that Mr. Priore "admitted having conspired with Schulman since thelate 1990s in the theft and selling of rare books, maps and/?or plates from the Oliver Room."

To read the complete article, see:
Court documents detail theft of rare maps, books, prints from Carnegie Library(http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2018/06/29/carnegie-library-pittsburgh-rare-books-stolen-search-warrants-gregroy-prioire-jonathan-schulman/stories/201806280184)

Hiram Funbun writes:

Ellen Smith writes:

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
CARNEGIE LIBRARY NUMISMATIC LITERATURE(http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n29a09.html)
LIBRARY RARE BOOK ROOM (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v11n22a05.html
CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH RARE BOOK THEFTS(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n12a07.html)