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Book Cover
E-book
Author McDade, Travis, author

Title Torn from their bindings : a story of art, science, and the pillaging of American university libraries / Travis McDade
Published Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, 2018

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Description 1 online resource
Contents That meanest of all thieves -- The Texas scene -- Setting out -- Among a kindred nation -- A homecoming of sorts -- You have to make a buck wherever you can -- Contains numerous color prints -- Any and all interest -- The last full measure -- Rare, lovely, and of obvious interest to collectors
Summary "In 1980, an antique print dealer was going broke from competition and lack of supply. Then he discovered all the high-quality antique prints he could ever want--for free--on the shelves of American university libraries. Torn from Their Bindings tells the story of Robert Kindred's brazen theft of irreplaceable antique illustrations and maps from academic libraries across the country--a crime spree that left the irredeemable wreck of countless rare books in its wake. Travis McDade's account of Kindred's pillaging and the paper trail that led to his capture unfolds with the drama of a true crime page-turner--whose pages are replete with the particulars of archival treasures, library science, print preservation, and the history bound up in the cultural heritage plundered by Kindred. Along the way we observe the nature and methods of the book thief, defacer of priceless volumes and purveyor of purloined pages, and acquire a wealth of knowledge about the antique prints he favored. Told by an author devoted to the preservation of books, the story is propelled by an informed curiosity and just outrage from its suspenseful opening to its ironic conclusion--the ultimate fate of Kindred's spoils"-- Provided by publisher
"In Torn from Their Bindings, Travis McDade tells the story of Robert Kindred, an art dealer who brazenly stole thousands of valuable antique prints from academic libraries during a cross-country crime spree in 1980. Torn from Their Bindings combines elements of true crime and legal history with the history of scientific illustrations and the development of archives and libraries to weave a narrative of the thefts and their legal aftermath together with the story of the etchings, engravings, and lithographs that were their primary victims"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Kindred, Robert
Book thefts -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Art thefts -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Print dealers -- United States -- Biography
Academic libraries -- Security measures -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Books -- Mutilation, defacement, etc. -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Scientific illustration -- History
Illustrated periodicals -- History
HISTORY -- United States -- 21st Century.
Academic libraries -- Security measures
Art thefts
Book thefts
Books -- Mutilation, defacement, etc.
Illustrated periodicals
Print dealers
Scientific illustration
United States
Genre/Form Biographies
History
Biographies.
Biographies.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780700626373
0700626379