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Stolen Audubon Edition Returned to RussiaA 165-year-old edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America stolen from the National Library of Russia was returned March 10. The book, containing 400 hand-colored drawings and worth about £4 million, had been consigned to Christie's auction house in London shortly after it disappeared from the library in late 1995. However, experts realized the book was stolen and contacted Scotland Yard, which established the provenance. The thief, Alexander Mamontov, had recently been deported from the United States to Russia, where he was arrested by the St. Petersburg organized-crime police. Fewer than 100 copies of the work exist. The stolen copy, bought by the Imperial Library in 1832, is considered the finest example. Lt. Col. Alexander Shubov, deputy chief of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, told the London Telegraph: "It's a great event for us because there are only three full editions in the National Library of Russia." Posted March 16, 1998. |
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