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Stolen rare books worth millions recovered after 40 years
The Manhattan DA announced the return of rare books worth millions of dollars that were stolen from a Long Island home over four decades ago. FOX 5 NY's Lisa Evers has the story.
NEW YORK - Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the return of 17 rare books stolen from the Long Island home of philanthropists John Hay Whitney and Betsey Whitney in the 1980s.
What we know:
The books, including works by John Keats, Oscar Wilde and James Joyce, resurfaced in January 2025 when an individual tried to sell them to two Manhattan rare book dealers.
After the items were flagged on the Art Loss Register, the dealers contacted law enforcement. Authorities later seized the books through search warrants, and a New York Supreme Court judge approved their return to the Whitney family in 2026.
The heirs plan to auction the books, valued at nearly $3 million, and donate the proceeds.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference in New York City. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, home to museums, galleries, and dealers displaying incredible artworks and antiquities," Bragg said. "Yet the integrity of this marketplace is undermined when stolen items are on display. We will not allow our borough to be a center for trafficked art and antiquities."
World War II veteran, John Hay Whitney
Van gogh. self portrait. john hay whitney collection. new york. USA. (Photo by: Bluered/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
John Hay Whitney, a World War II veteran who rose to the rank of colonel, served as publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, president of the Museum of Modern Art and U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Betsey Whitney was a philanthropist who founded the Greentree Foundation in 1983.
The backstory:
Whitney, an avid collector, inherited hundreds of rare books from his mother, poet Helen Hay Whitney.
Between 1982 and 1989, at least 28 books were stolen from the family’s estate. The thefts were reported to Nassau County police in 1989.
In 2025, an individual claiming the books were inherited from his grandfather attempted to sell 17 of the missing volumes to B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books in Manhattan. Investigators executed six search warrants in 2025 and 2026 to recover the items.
11 books still missing
The investigation into the thefts and the whereabouts of 11 still-missing books remains ongoing.
What was stolen?
Among the recovered works is a collection of 37 love letters written by Keats to his fiancée, Fanny Brawne. The volume includes eight original handwritten letters, including the first he wrote to her, and is valued at more than $2 million. The letters were sold at auction in 1885, an event that inspired Wilde to write a sonnet.
The case was handled by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Antiquities Trafficking Unit. Officials said the unit has recovered more than 6,200 cultural items valued at over $485 million and returned more than 5,900 to their rightful owners.
The Source: This report is based on information from the Manhattan DA's office.