[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

The Island of Lost Maps



Title: The Island of Lost Maps

Has anyone on the list read _The Island of Lost Maps_ by Miles Harvey?  It rambles quite a bit, but the core of the (nonfiction) book is the story of Gilbert Bland, who was arrested several years ago after stealing historic maps from libraries all over North America.  The author talks about how the popularity of eBay and the Antiques Roadshow is putting archival collections in more danger, as interest in -- and prices for -- old documents, maps, books, and so on continue to rise.  He also claims that some libraries refused to admit they had anything stolen, presumably so as not to frighten off potential donors.  However, this meant that they were not able to get their maps back once they had been recovered (since they insisted they weren't missing).  If true, I think this is somewhat disturbing.

Has anyone else read the book?  What did you think?  I personally could have done without the digressions into sea monsters and the Hardy Boys, but the story of the thief was interesting, as were the security issues the case raises.  I'm especially interested to hear whether anyone from the libraries that were "hit" have read the book, and whether they thought Harvey's condemnation of library security procedures was fair. 

Julie Kerssen
King County, WA