First Edition The Picture of Dorian Gray signed by author, Oscar Wilde
I thought I was bad for misplacing books but I have nothing on the British Library. Granted, they have 650km of shelves and 150 million items whereas my dwellings probably wouldn’t take up the amount of space Shakespeare paraphernalia would.
The Guardian reports that 9,000 books are missing from the British library – that’s MISLAID missing not STOLEN missing, although some may have met their fate with people who just don’t get the concept that wanting something doesn’t mean you’re entitled to take it. For the mislaid items, there is hope that they will be found and put back in their rightful homes.
Interestingly, a lot of the missing books date to just before or after the library’s move from the British Museum to St. Pancras.
Included among the missing are:
- First edition Charles Dickens novels
- First edition John Updike books
- A 1555 edition of 12th-century Jewish scholar Moses ben Maimon‘s Letter on Astrology
- A 17th century guide to Rome
- First edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- An 1876 illustrated edition of Alice in Wonderland
Keith Rathmill, of library security firm SA Secure, said he was surprised the list was not longer – one small library which consulted his firm had lost about a fifth of its collection in four years. “It is a huge collection and no building is secure,” he said. “There’s theft from all libraries, but the British Library can think itself lucky it isn’t in a worse situation – it doesn’t attract the dregs of society.”
I think I shall be kinder to myself the next time I can’t find my keys.