Bland thefts

[ewilkie@ix.netcom.com (Everett Wilkie )]

The following appeared in the 23 June 1996 edition of the Chapel Hill 
[NC] News, apparently reprinted from the Raleigh News & Observer.  I 
particularly call your attention to the opinion of Prosecutor 
Fitzgerald in the final paragraph. --ECW

Book slasher pleads guilty in Duke, UVA thefts

Charlottesville--An antique book dealer has admitted helping himself to 
rare maps and documents from libraries at Duke University and the 
University of Virginia.

Gilbert Bland, Jr., 47, of Boca Raton, Fla., is suspected in similar 
thefts on a dozen other campuses, including the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bland pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Charlottesville, Va, 
to charges of stealing historic maps from the University of Virginia 
and transporting them across state lines, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rusty 
Fitzgerald said Friday.

The book dealer also admitted stealing six documents from Perkins 
Library at Duke University.

The value of the documents Bland admitted taking from both institutions 
was set at $67,000.

Bland is awaiting an Oct. 8 sentencing on those thefts.  He faces up to 
10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

But prosecutors will recommend the minimum sentence because of Bland's 
cooperation in recovering 140 rare documents valued at $200,000, the 
prosecutor said.

"This plea establishes once and for all that he is the person who stole 
these documents," Fitzgerald said.  "It's very helpful to everyone.  It 
may be one of those win-win situations you try for but don't always 
achieve."

Among the charges Bland still faces is a count of damaging and stealing 
property from UNC-CH.  Court papers put the value of the property lost 
and the damage done at $20,705.

University police Lt. Clay Williams said Bland will likely go to 
Delaware first to face similar charges there.

At UNC-CH, the thefts occurred in December, when a man presented a 
Florida student identification card and examined several rare books 
that were hundreds of years old.  Later it was discovered that ornate 
maps had been sliced out of the books with a razor blade.

Authorities say they think the thief went on a map-hunting spree using 
the same ruse at Duke, Virginia, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, 
Brown University, the University of Chicago, and nine other schools.

Blands finally slipped up in December when officials caught him slicing 
a map from a book at Johns Hopkins.

Bland paid for the damage and was not charged.  Authorities later 
realized he had taken other old maps and illustrations that can fetch 
thousands of dollars from private sellers.

They traced Bland to Florida, where he and his wife ran a small rare 
maps shop in Tamarac.

Bland was self-taught in the world of rare book dealing, and apparently 
started frequenting the libraries as part of his homework, Fitzgerald 
said.  But the profit motive soon took over, although he was caught 
before he sold any of the documents he stole.

"My suspicion is that while he was schooling himself about what's 
available, what it looks like, he began to realize how easy it would be 
to slip these out in his shirt," Fitzgerlad said.  "The folks who take 
care of them do not always consider them a thing of value.  The 
emphasis in libraries is in preserving them and making them available 
for research."



-- 
                     Everett C. Wilkie, Jr.
	       Head Librarian and Crofut Curator of
		    Rare Books & Manuscripts
		The Connecticut Historical Society
	      1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT 06105
         Phone: 860-236-5621, ext. 250  Fax: 860-236-2664
		   Cell/car phone: 860-402-2126
		   Email: ewilkie@ix.netcom.com
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