Torn from their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries

by Travis McDade

In 1980, an antique print dealer was going broke from competition and lack of supply. Then he discovered all the high-quality antique prints he could ever want—for free—on the shelves of American university libraries.

Torn from Their Bindings tells the story of Robert Kindred’s brazen theft of irreplaceable antique illustrations and maps from academic libraries across the country—a crime spree that left the irredeemable wreck of countless rare books in its wake. Travis McDade’s account of Kindred’s pillaging and the paper trail that led to his capture unfolds with the drama of a true crime page-turner—whose pages are replete with the particulars of archival treasures, library science, print preservation, and the history bound up in the cultural heritage plundered by Kindred. Along the way we observe the nature and methods of the book thief, defacer of priceless volumes and purveyor of purloined pages, and acquire a wealth of knowledge about the antique prints he favored.

Told by an author devoted to the preservation of books, the story is propelled by an informed curiosity and just outrage from its suspenseful opening to its ironic conclusion—the ultimate fate of Kindred’s spoils.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Books About Books

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

I am the curator of law rare books at the University of Illinois College of Law. I have been researching rare book crime since about 2004 when I started writing my first book. (It was somewhat misleadingly titled The Book Thief, even though the thief in question stole more than just books. I also would have liked the title to make clear that the point of the narrative was the federal legal procedure that followed the theft, not the theft itself. One of the (many)lessons I learned with that book was that authors have little control over things like the title of their book.)

In 2008, I started teaching a class on rare book crime at Illinois, and have done so, about once a year, since then. I began what became Thieves of Book Row (a title I like, by the way) as part of a chapter in another book. I became so interested in the subject that I simply could not stop researching it.

A short note on the ratings I assign books I read (which a quick look will suggest is generous): I only "rate" books that I can give at least four stars to. That is, I read books (plenty of them) that deserve fewer than four stars - so I simply don't rate them on Goodreads. There is nothing at all wrong with giving one's opinion on a book - positive or negative - but as an author who has books up for review, I feel bad giving other authors negative (or, I guess, even mediocre) ratings. I know what negative ratings feel like.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a true story on the theft of rare books I was expecting something with suspense and intrigue but if that's what you're looking for better read another of the books on the topic of rare book theft. In "Torn From Their Bindings", McDade the Curator of Rare Law books at the University of Illinois relates the story of the story of Robert Kindred a down on his luck character who turns to stealing rare 19th century prints from books held by a number of library collections across the south, mid-west and eastern universities in the U.S. Although this occurred in the early 80's it is unbelievable how easily the stacks were accessed and materials including whole books were removed for subsequent sale.

The dust jacket on this book shows a gorgeous image of a plate with the rendering of song birds overlaid with the tool of Kindred's trade (razor blades). This is a necessary story to be told but this account reads like a police procedural written by an FBI agent. That the thief and his accomplice were caught comes down to luck; the latter part of the book goes into great detail about the action (or lack thereof) on behalf of the justice system which finally found cause to send the thief to prison for five years.

[Jean Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

True crime! In a library! Of a library! Put everything on hold for a bit and dive into this book.
What an amazing and comprehensive tale of two ne’er-do-wells who possess a small amount of information, plenty of chutzpah and absolutely no integrity. They focused on lifting color plates and black and white prints from old books and selling them on the second hand market for several years and were only caught by accident and the astute observation of a maintenance person.
This book, of course, made me mad. I kept the pages flying hoping to see justice or just a hint of remorse from the villains. McDade does not allow us that. It wasn’t there. The bad guy was caught, got a light sentence and was back in the game.
I will absolutely read more from this author.

[Heather Duris · Rating 5 out of 5]

And now my hair is on fire about crimes committed in 1980! This book was so well researched, from detailed accounts of what was stolen from university librairies, to police accounts of arresting the thief, to court proceedings. Just reading about the painstaking process of documenting each stolen print made me feel sick to my stomach for the librarians tasked with the job and for the immense losses their libraries suffered. I guess this hits me so hard because I am an artist and I revere books and libraries. So I can't say I "enjoyed" this book, as much as I appreciated the author's attention to detail and committment to justice. "...part of the reason we have a criminal justice system: to remember the crimes." p146.

[Rupert Nacoste · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nobody steals books." I am an academic. In the past, every now and then I would come to my on-campus office door in the morning and find the door unlocked. Irritating, but then I would say, "Nobody steals books." Now I know better.

While no one would steal the kinds of academic books I keep in my office, it turns out people steal books. There is a market for rare books or pages from illustrated rare books. "Torn from their bindings" is about one such case of two determined, sometimes terribly efficient robbers who were cutting prints from rare books to sell. In this case, these two robbers were also stumbling and bumbling. Yet it took real time for the main robber to be punished because stealing from university libraries is too often seen by law enforcement as not that much of a crime.

Well told, in a meticulous way, this story was definitely a good read. Damn, people do steal books.

[Bryant Whelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched and detailed account of a thief who stole rare books and prints he cut from books at university libraries in the 1980’s, and the efforts to find and prosecute him. Kudos to the good cops and ultimately the FBI who eventually prosecuted this thief, but he was one slippery, lying dude. The real losers were not the libraries but society as a whole. Glad the author Travis McDade wrote this book and happy that I read it, but I just wonder if justice was really served.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew? People were stealing parts of old books for many years and getting away with it. It was apparently super easy and when caught the perpetrators were rarely held accountable. I thought this was an amazing (and sad) story told really well.

(I also liked that a very small part of the story included McKeldin Library - the graduate library at my alma mater, University of Maryland.)

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing style wasn't riveting.

2020 Catch Up Challenge: library book, Goodreads TBR

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was exceptionally thorough and well researched, although a bit dense to get through in parts. I am glad I read it.