I thought this was interesting enough to forward from MapHist ...
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Curator brings stolen goods to merchant]- Tanner New American
Atlas
Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:58:04 -0400
From: Joel Kovarsky <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: maps-l
To:
This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list)
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Forwarded from ExLibrs-L
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [EXLIBRIS-L] Curator brings stolen goods to merchant
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 08:33:20 -0400
From: Rodger Friedman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Rare book and manuscripts <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Former Rockland Historical Society curator charged in theft of rare book
By STEVE LIEBERMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 1, 2007)
NEW CITY - A former Rockland Historical Society curator surrendered
yesterday to face allegations that she stole a rare book and tried to sell
it.
Rebecca Streeter-Chen, 50, is accused of stealing an 1823 copy of "Tanner's
New American Atlas" on April 22 from the historical society in New City.
The book, published in Philadelphia, has been appraised at $60,000. Henry
Schenck Tanner was an American mapmaker born in New York.
Clarkstown police said Streeter-Chen tried to sell the book to the
Philadelphia Print Shop on May 24. She didn't know a co-owner suspected the
book was stolen and had notified the police.
Streeter-Chen met with the owner, Christopher Lane, who sent her to a room
inside the store, Clarkstown police said.
Instead of consummating the sale of the book, police said, Streeter-Chen
came face-to-face with Clarkstown Detective Sgt. Bernard Cummings and
Detective Bob Shine, along with officers with the Philadelphia Police
Department.
"She came into the room," Cummings said yesterday. "She had the book. She
didn't expect to see us, that's for sure."
The officers said they took the book and let Chen go after she promised to
turn herself in at 11 a.m. May 31 at the Clarkstown Police Department.
And she did.
Police charged Streeter-Chen with second-degree grand larceny, which covers
the theft of property valued at more than $50,000.
Clarkstown Justice Joel Flick set her bail at $5,000 cash or bond. She is to
return to Town Court for a felony hearing Monday. The Rockland District
Attorney's Office recommended $10,000 bail, Shine told Flick.
Streeter-Chen was not represented by an attorney.
Flick entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf.
Streeter-Chen, who has two children, said in court that she and her husband
would put up their house in Highland Park, N.J., as collateral for bail.
Her husband, Mel Chen, started calling bail bondsmen.
His wife was released from in the county jail late yesterday.
Mel Chen tried to take responsibility for the theft.
"I did it," he said outside Clarkstown Police Department and Courthouse on
Maple Avenue in New City.
"I have kind of a drinking problem," he said, chain-smoking cigarettes. "I
didn't know what it was. It could have been a loaf of bread."
Chen also claimed he exchanged e-mails with the Philadelphia Print Shop
owner on the sale of the book.
"I corresponded on the e-mail," Chen said. "She found out I was doing this.
She wanted to take the thing back. I guess they were waiting."
Clarkstown Detective Lt. Charles Delo said yesterday that Mel Chen told the
same story to detectives. Delo said one hole in the husband's story is that
Streeter-Chen showed up in Philadelphia with the book.
"We believe she took the book for financial reasons," Delo said.
Shine said the e-mail address sent to Lane during their negotiations
contained the name "Rebecca Streeter."
Christopher Lane, the co-owner of the Philadelphia rare book store, said
last week that he suspected the book had been stolen.
Several hours after being contacted about the book's availability, Lane said
he received an e-mail about the theft from the historical society. The
e-mail was sent to rare-book dealers and museums.
Streeter-Chen worked full time for the Rockland Historical Society from the
fall of 2004 to late 2006. During the same period, she also worked for the
Trent House museum in Trenton, N.J.
She is still employed at the Trent House and museum as collections curator.
She said in court yesterday that she started at the Trent House in 2000. She
is listed on the Trent House Web site as Rebecca Streeter.
The museum director, Rhett Pernot, didn't return calls seeking comment.
Rockland Historical Society President Thomas F.X. Casey, a noted historian
speaking for the board, said yesterday that he and the society felt
betrayed.
"It's tragic that a former employee apparently took advantage of inside
knowledge to betray our trust," Casey said. "I am shocked."
The book is usually kept in the museum's vault, but had been taken out the
day it was stolen, he said.
Casey said the museum has changed some of the locks and security codes to
make sure all its historical documents, books and artifacts are protected.
The Historical Society, at 20 Zuckor Road in New City, opened around 1975
and chronicles the county's history with exhibits, historical houses, books
and documents.
Casey said records don't indicate when the museum obtained the Tanner book
or from whom.
He guessed it was during the museum's first decade, when recordkeeping was
poor at best or nonexistent.
The museum was started by history buffs and didn't have a full-time staff
until the late 1980s, he said.
Lane, the Philadelphia book dealer, said no one ever kept track on how many
editions of "Tanner's New American Atlas" were published. Lane called the
book "the first great top-quality American atlas.
"It's an important book," he said.
Casey complimented the current curator, Julia Hickey, for sending out an
e-mail to rare-book collectors and stores about the theft. Her e-mail
alerted Lane.
He also praised the effort by Clarkstown police.
"I still can't believe this happened," he said. "You go into museum studies
not to make a lot of money but for a love of history. This just takes my
breath away."
Rodger Friedman
Rare Book Studio
One Mystic Circle
Tuxedo, NY 10987
845 351 5067
[log in to unmask]
www.RareBookStudio.com
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Joel Kovarsky
The Prime Meridian: Antique Maps & Books
1839 Clay Drive, Crozet, VA 22932 USA
Phone: (+1) 434-823-5696; Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: <http://www.theprimemeridian.com>
Member, International Antiquarian Mapsellers Association
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