Some of the books from the earlier seizure (Europol photo).
Two more arrests have been made in the European country of Georgia in the massive library theft ring that stole books from libraries in nine countries. At least 170 books were stolen. At the time, the estimated value of the books was $2.8 million.
Last April, in a coordinated raid with the assistance of Europol and Eurojust, 100 officers searched 27 locations in Georgia and Latvia. One hundred-fifty books were seized. The focus was on Russian books, which could more readily be sold in that country without being traced. Recently, two more alleged thieves were charged in Georgia. The Prosecution Service of Georgia published a report on the case as follows.
“The Prosecution Service of Georgia, with the involvement of an international investigative team established with the support of Eurojust, has initiated criminal proceedings against two more individuals regarding the theft of valuable books from libraries in EU countries, while charges have also been brought against two individuals for additional episodes.
“The investigation conducted by the Investigative Division of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia has revealed that in 2022, Georgian citizens established an organized criminal group with the intention of stealing valuable 19th-century books by various authors across Europe for the purpose of subsequent resale. To achieve this, members of the organized group used fake identification documents, fictitious names and surnames, and pre-prepared counterfeit samples of books to replace the originals.
“According to the criminal plan, members of the organized group were to take books by 19th-century classical authors from national and university libraries in France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Finland for reading, and then secretly replacing them with high-quality copies of the original books. In this way, members of the organized group acquired books worth hundreds of thousands of euros from libraries in various cities across Europe in 2022-2023.”
Previously, five persons were charged with the crimes. They face potential sentences of 6-10 years in prison.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
