Ten Stolen Books Returned to the National Library of Sweden

Between 1995 and 2004, 62 older and very valuable books from the National Library of Sweden (KB) were stolen by the then head of unit for manuscripts. Today ten of them are returned to KB, made possible by a generous donation. The returned items’ lineage spans three centuries and have previously belonged to both royalty and great book collectors before being incorporated into the library’s collections.

The extensive thefts at KB are well known to many. Media interest has been considerable and the crimes have even been portrayed in documentaries and fiction. For the library, this event was a tragedy and the theft of the 62 books – the bearers of hundreds of years of history – a great loss for our common cultural heritage.

After the thefts were discovered in 2004, the police conducted a preliminary investigation, but the case was dropped two years later. In 2011, KB was able to locate and bring home the first of the books, Cornelis von Wytfliet’s atlas from 1597. At the same time, KB published a comprehensive list of all the stolen books on their website, with the plea: Help us find the books!

That call was answered by Tomas Söderblom, a doctorate historian and successful entrepreneur, who took up the challenge. He contacted KB and took the initiative to donate ten of the stolen books, which today are returned to the library.

“A fantastic day for culture and society”

– This is a fantastic day, not only for KB but for culture and society in its entirety. We have all been given back a piece of our history. This is a major breakthrough in a long and arduous quest. We are incredibly grateful for the generous help we’ve received in the return of the ten books, states National Librarian Karin Grönvall.

Greger Bergvall, librarian at KB, has been searching for the stolen books over the last decade:

– Many times I’ve played with the thought that an additional one or two of the books could return home. That ten of the most prioritized books are now returned simultaneously is almost too much to process. Amongst them are first editions, hand-coloured luxury copy, accounts of the first sea voyage around the world and the first microscopes, the oldest amongst the stolen books, royal books and other significant provenances.

The Search Continues

The ten books will now be returned to their place in KB’s underground repository. Previously, an additional seven books have been recovered, which means that altogether 17 of 62 stolen books are returned to the library.

– Our efforts to find the remaining books continues. It is important that they again become a part of our common cultural heritage and accessible for research, declares National Librarian Karin Grönvall.

More information
Help us bring back the stolen books!

THE TEN RECOVERED BOOKS

1. Papin

• Papin, Heinrich. Bildliche Darstellung der k.k. oesterreichischen Armee. Vienna, [1820].
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 28-29th 1999, lot 1212.
• Purchased by an English buyer in London.
• A rare work with over 50 hand-coloured lithographic prints of uniforms of the Austrian army.
• This work belonged previously to Swedish King Charles XV, and was acquired by the National Library of Sweden (KB) in 1873.

2. Goethe

• Goethe, Johan Wolfgang von. Das römische Carneval. Weimar und Gotha, C. W. Ettinger, 1789.
• Sold by F. Dörling, November 18-19th 1996, lot 1512.
• Purchased by a German buyer in Berlin. Later acquired by a German collector. 
• Contains 20 hand-coloured copperplates. 
• A first edition of only 250 copies. 
• Belonged to Fredrik Vult von Steijern’s Goethe collection. Testamentary gift in 1915 and transferred to the National Library of Sweden in 1929. 
• This particular Goethe collection is very impressive and includes around 4500 titles. At the time, it was the second largest private collection of Goethe’s literature in the world. Only the Anton Kippenberg collection in Leipzig was more extensive.

3. Brand

• Brand, [Johann] Christian. Zeichnungen nach dem gemeinen Volke besonders der Kaufruf in Wien. Vienna, [1780’s].
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 28-29th 1999, lot 1218.
• Purchased by an American collector. Later acquired by an Austrian buyer in Vienna. 
• This is the rare third edition and the most extensive. A hand-coloured luxury copy with 38 full-page engravings. Depicts different street sellers in Vienna. 
• This book has belonged previously to Swedish King Charles XIII (1748-1818) was included in his library at Roserbergs castle. 
• Transferred to the National Library of Sweden in 1873 with the acquisition of Charles XV’s book collections.

4. Zahn

• Zahn, Joannes. Oculus artificialis teledioptricus, sive telescopium, ex abditis rerum naturalium et artificialium principiis protractum nova methodo, eaque solida explicatum ac comprimis è triplici fundamento physico seu naturali, mathematico dioptrico et mechanico, seu practico stabilitum... Norimbergae, 1702.
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 21-22nd 2001, lot 441.
• Purchased by an English buyer in London.
• Book on astronomy and the first complete rendition on early microscopes, with 81 engraved illustrations.
• Recorded for the first time in the National Library of Sweden’s handwritten book catalogue from the second half of the 1700’s.

5. Hobbes

• Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, or the matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill. London, Andrew Crooke, at the Green Dragon in St. Pauls church-yard, 1651.
• Sold by F. Dörling, November 18-19th 1996, lot 1404.
• Purchased by an English buyer in London. 
• The book belonged previously to the George Stephens library at Huseby, Sweden. 
• The library was deposited at the National Library of Sweden in 1963. Portions of the library were transferred into the National Library of Sweden’s ownership in 1980. 
• In the work Hobbes proposes that man’s life is “lonely, poor, dirty, animalistic and short”, and that a social contract is required in order to break with this miserable state. Humankind acquired therefore an agreed language, set of morals, and gave power to Leviathan, who, in exchange for this power provides security to mankind.

6. Fendt

• Fendt, Tobias. Monumenta sepulcrorum cum epigraphis ingenio et doctrina excellentium virorum aliorumque, tam prisci quam nostri seculi memorabilium hominum de archetypis expressa... [Vratislaviae], 1574.
• 1: Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 6-7th 2002, post 20. Remained unsold.
• 2: Sold by Ketterer Kunst again on November 16-17th 2009, lot 11. 
• Purchased by a German foundation.
• Rare first edition with 128 engravings of older Roman monuments, grave stones, urns, and more. 
• The binding is covered with an older parchment manuscript in red and black. 
• In the National Library of Sweden’s holdings since the second half of the 1700’s.

7. Cardano

• Cardano, Girolamo. Opus novum de proportionibus numerorum, motuum, ponderum, sonorum, aliarumque rerum mensurandarum... Basileae, 1570.
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 21-22nd 2001, lot 447.
• Purchased by an English buyer in London. Later acquired by a buyer in Japan.
• Consists of three parts, one of which contains the most important work of algebra from the 1500’s.
• The book has belonged to the National Library for over 300 years, surviving the great castle fire of 1697.

8. Münster / Schöner

• Münster, Sebastian. Rudimenta mathematica. Basel, 1551.
• Bound together with: Schöner, Andreas. Gnomonice. Hoc est: de descriptionibus horologiorum sciotericorum omnis generis... Nürnberg, 1562.
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, November 13-14th 2000, lot 112.
• Purchased by a Swedish buyer in London. 
• Andreas Schöner was a German astronomer and this work covers astrolabes and sun dials.
• The German mathematician Sebastian Münster’s book covers the basic principles of geometry.

9. Dialogus

• [Dialogus creaturarum]. Destructorium vitiorum ex similitudinum creaturaruz exemplorum appropratioe per moduz dyalogi... Lyon, 1509.
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, November 19-20th 2001, lot 14.
• Purchased by a German buyer. 
• A very rare and early example with teachings of customs through a collections of fables with 121 woodcut engravings.
• Bound in a brown Moroccan binding in the Grolier style by the French bookbinder Hardy 
• The National Library of Sweden acquired the book at auction in London in 1919. 
• The book has previously belonged to Henry Huth’s (1815-78) important and valuable book collection. 
• Catalogued once in the older Swedish collection of pre-1700 works due to its similarity with the first Swedish printed book from 1483.

10. Maximilianus

• Maximilianus Transsylvanus. Epistola, de admirabili & novissima Hispanorum in Orientem navigatione, gua uariae & nulli prius acessae Regiones inuentae sunt, ... Rome, 1523. 
• Sold by Ketterer Kunst, May 24-25 2004, lot 622.
• Purchased by an English buyer in London.
• Probably the first edition of this work. 
• Extremely rare, describes Fernando Magellan’s sea voyage around the world of 1519-22.
• The book acquired by the National Library of Sweden in 1857 though a donation by the Tidö castle library in Sweden. The majority of this book collection has belonged previously to Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie and Axel Oxenstierna.

Contact
Greger Bergvall, librarian
greger.bergvall@kb.se
+46.10-709 33 44

Jan Ottosson, librarian
jan.ottosson@kb.se
+46.10-709 33 52

Lars Ilshammar, Deputy National Librarian and press contact
lars.ilshammar@kb.se
+46.70 007 33 69