Daily Texan Staff
The long and mysterious journey of one of the University's rarest books may soon be over thanks to an attentive book collector in New York.
A collection of works by the Italian poet Petrarch, believed to be one of 12 rare books missing from UT's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center since 1994, turned up at a New York City auction house two weeks ago, Ransom Center officials said Thursday.
The book, Il Petrarcha, was spotted by a New York collector who knew the University had been missing it. The collector immediately notified the auction house and University officials.
"This is a book of great scholarly and cultural value, and I was afraid it was lost forever," said Tom Staley, director of the Ransom Center. "When I heard someone had seen it, I felt great joy but also a lot of anger that someone would steal a book like this."
The book was published in 1514 and is valued at $40,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation currently has the book and is expected to ask Staley within a week to confirm that it is, in fact, the one owned by the University, Staley said.
Neither the UT Police Department or the FBI would comment on the case because it is still under investigation.
It is unclear how the book was taken from the Ransom Center's rare book and manuscript collection or who might be responsible, Staley said.
"We are considered one of the tightest, most secure places in the country for books of this kind," Staley said.
None of the other 11 books reported missing from the center in 1994 have been recovered. The estimated cost of the 12 books is $163,200.
Petrarch, a 14th century Italian poet and scholar, wrote widely on the classics, but is best known for the series of love poems addressed to Laura, his muse. His writing proved to be a major influence on many authors, most notably Geoffrey Chaucer. He was crowned poet laureate of Rome in 1341.
"Petrarch is second only to Dante in Italian literature," said Richard Oram, head librarian of the Ransom Center. "I'm quite surprised that this book has turned up because I thought we'd never get it back."
A collector of early Italian books donated the book to the University in 1984.
Staley said he remains hopeful all 12 books will return to campus unharmed.
"These books belong to the people of Texas," Staley said. "It hurts me dearly that these books have been missing for so long."
More than 1 million rare books and 35 million manuscripts are housed at the Ransom Center. In all, the University owns about 8 million rare books.
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