The Map Thief: How an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps

Award-winning investigative reporter Michael Blanding tells the story of a map dealer-turned-criminal, E. Forbes Smiley III, who stole antique maps worth more than $3 million from rare-book libraries around the country. Smiley was ultimately caught in 2005 when an attentive librarian spotted a razor blade he dropped on the floor of the Beinecke Library at Yale, leading to the unraveling of his deceptions. Blanding will also talk about the importance of the rare maps stolen by Smiley and the implications of such thefts for library security.