Book Thieves Circa 1920-30's (think gangsters)

[3113]

Book on book thieves. From the sound of it, they don't make book thieves like they used to:

It is hard to imagine a more gentlemanly trade than the buying and selling of old books. The very word "antiquarian" evokes tweedy, bespectacled fellows moving between dusty shelves to pull down some esoteric intellectual treasure. But as Travis McDade shows in "Thieves of Book Row," book dealing in the early 20th century was rife with scoundrels and rogues.

Book prices soared in the 1920s, then plummeted in the Great Depression, "when a difficult industry was made nearly impossible," McDade writes. "Booksellers did what they could to survive, ranging from the mildly unethical to the outright criminal."....One book dealer who organized thieves was William "Babyface" Mahoney. When the ring was finally busted, it didn't sound bookish at all: The papers called it the Romm Gang.

Full story here.

 

[slyc_willie]

That would make for an interesting plot. The setting alone is already enticing.

There was a movie several years back, The Ninth Gate, with Johnny Depp and Natascha Kinski. Not a very good movie, but it had its moments. Depp's character was an unscrupulous rare book dealer. The article made me think of it.

 

[sr71plt]

There was a movie several years back, The Ninth Gate, with Johnny Depp and Natascha Kinski. Not a very good movie, but it had its moments. Depp's character was an unscrupulous rare book dealer. The article made me think of it.

The book wasn't too good either. Great premise; not the best carry through.

 

[slyc_willie]

The book wasn't too good either. Great premise; not the best carry through.

Can't say that I'm surprised. The movie had that obvious "it's-from-a-book" feel.

 

[Bramblethorn]

That would make for an interesting plot. The setting alone is already enticing.

There was a movie several years back, The Ninth Gate, with Johnny Depp and Natascha Kinski. Not a very good movie, but it had its moments. Depp's character was an unscrupulous rare book dealer. The article made me think of it.

I saw that one, back before I decided Polanski wasn't getting any more of my money. It was OK but I cringed when Depp lit up a cigarette while reading Extremely Valuable Old Book - anybody in his line of work should know better.

 

[oggbashan]

I saw that one, back before I decided Polanski wasn't getting any more of my money. It was OK but I cringed when Depp lit up a cigarette while reading Extremely Valuable Old Book - anybody in his line of work should know better.

But people don't. Most Old Books have been treated like modern paperbacks in their past yet have survived with stains and damage.

When I was working at someone else's bookshop, we used to wince when a particular family brought in books to sell. They were descendants of a famous 18th Century author and still had the remains of his library. Whenever a large bill was due, they would bring in some of that library to sell.

As children, whenever they had a sibling argument, they used to throw books at each other, having learned to do that from the parents' rows. Their mother was an extremely accurate book thrower.

All the leather bindings were damaged. Some books were held together with Duck Tape - which was difficult to remove and made the cost of restoration more expensive. As repair/restoration cost a minimum of £100 per volume, the prices they received for their much damaged books were very low.

The local bookbinder chuckled with glee whenever he saw that family's bookplate. He knew he would be busy for weeks.