Seventeen rare books, discovered missing in April 1999 from the 600-year-old Jagiellonian Library in Krakow, Poland, and found in an auction house near Frankfort, Germany, six months later, were returned June 11. “At long last, after so much effort, the books have returned. It’s a great joy,” exulted Jagiellonian Library Director Krzysztof Zamorski, who traveled to Germany with a security detail to escort the items back home.
The Associated Press reported June 12 that a German court ordered the return of the books, which included a 15th-century issue of Cosmographica by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, after the library sued the auctioneer. Forensics experts are examining the books in an attempt to reveal who originally stole them.
The 17 volumes, however, were among 51 items that turned up missing when the theft was first discovered. AP said that officials are still unclear exactly how the original theft took place.
Posted June 17, 2002.