Restoring Legacy: The Recovery of Stolen Books from the Whitney Collection
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alfred Bragg Jr. is returning 17 rare, stolen books worth over $2 million to the descendants of former MoMA president John Hay Whitney and his wife Betsey Cushing Whitney. The collection includes valuable items like a first edition of Aleister Crowley's poetry, a signed copy of James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, and letters from Oscar Wilde. The most significant piece is a portfolio of John Keats' letters to his fiancee, valued at $2 million.
These books were part of a larger collection stolen from the Whitney's Long Island home, Greentree, almost 40 years ago. John Hay Whitney, a prominent figure in the art world, inherited his mother's rare book collection and shared a passion for European painting with his wife Betsey. The missing books were noticed in 1989, leading to the recent recovery of 17 of them from a seller who claimed to have inherited them from his grandfather.
The books were identified by rare book dealers who noticed them on the Art Loss Register and alerted the authorities. While the investigation into the theft is ongoing, the individual who tried to sell the books is not considered a suspect. The Whitney heirs plan to auction the recovered books and donate the proceeds. The return of these stolen treasures marks a significant step towards justice for the Whitney family and the preservation of cultural heritage.