"The Map Thief" by Michael Blanding
Gotham Books, 2014
Brief Review by Travis Simpkins
On June 8, 2005, a librarian at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University noticed an exacto razor blade laying on the carpeted floor of the reading room… this chance observation signaled the end of a long three-year series of thefts committed by rare map dealer, E. Forbes Smiley III. With over two decades in the map business, Smiley was a respected connoisseur and scholar. Specializing in maps of early Colonial America, he helped assemble two of the most comprehensive map collections in the United States: the Leventhal Collection in the Boston Public Library and the Slaughter Collection in New York Public Library. Such lofty contributions to a field he obviously loved made it all the more troubling when it was revealed that he had been slicing maps from delicate books and stealing the objects he had once worked so passionately to preserve. All total, hundreds of maps worth millions of dollars may have been stolen by Smiley, though he only admitted to a small portion of the suspected thefts.
In The Map Thief, Michael Blanding presents the case of E. Forbes Smiley III with a sensitive touch of humanity. The book doesn't just detail the crimes themselves, but explores the root cause of Smiley's desperation. Blanding paints the picture of a man with a lavish lifestyle, whose debts were mounting… and whose valiant attempt to save a small idyllic town in Maine further stressed his high-wire finances. Interwoven with the story of Smiley and his criminal trial, are the tales behind the creation of the ancient maps that were targeted as well. With a historian's sense of detail, the cartographic background provides proper compliment to this contemporary crime story.
All things considered, if any good came of the Smiley case, it is that it pointed out some of the security weaknesses in our revered cultural institutions… highlighting the flaws, some more obvious than others, that made them such soft targets for theft. In the end, perhaps we may be enlightened to new ways in which to protect our rare objects and valuable cultural heritage.
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| Beinecke Library: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Map of New England. John Smith: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Beinecke Library: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Michael Blanding: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Gerard de Jode, 157: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III as a young man: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III website: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| New York Public Library: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Joan Blaeu, 1664: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III advertisement: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| : The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Boston Public Library: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| John Speed, 1676: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Graham Arader: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Cladius Ptolemy, 1482: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| John Seller, 1675: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| : The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| E. Forbes Smiley III: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
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| Michael Blanding: The Map Thief. Michael Blanding |
Michael Blanding: "The Map Thief"
