Monday, January 29, 2007

Update: Stolen Russian Book Recovered

Earlier this month I noted the theft of an 1892 copy of The History and Masterworks of Byzantium Enamel from the Institute of History and Material Culture's library in St. Petersburg. ITAR-TASS reports today that the book has been recovered; it was found inside a plastic bag at the Pushkin Children's Library.

"'Library personnel though[t] that the bag looked suspicious and called the police,' a city police source told ITAR-TASS. The source attributed the find to the thorough investigation. 'When the list of suspects became very short, the thief preferred to get rid of the stolen item,' he said."

Sounds a bit more like luck to me ... but at least the book has been found. Police say the investigation into the theft is ongoing; no suspect has been apprehended.