Keynote Presentation: The Looting of the Kenyon College Library

Program: Mr. McDade has written several books on the theft of valuable rare papers, books, and book plates by an odd assortment of thieves, almost entirely motivated by greed. One of the most amazing cases occurred at Kenyon College in the 1990s when an employee of the Kenyon College Library stole hundreds of rare items over several years. Mr. McDade details this bizarre story in Disappearing Ink: The insider, the FBI, and the looting of the Kenyon College Library. Additionally, Mr. McDade will talk briefly about his most recent research as well as mention some of his other work. The Octavofest guest speaker is Travis McDade, the Curator of Law Rare Books and Associate Professor of Library Service at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor McDade is the country’s foremost expert on crimes against rare books, maps, documents, and other printed cultural heritage resources. He is the author of three books on the subject: The Book Thief: The True Crimes of Daniel Spiegelman; Thieves of Book Row: New York’s Most Notorious Rare Book Ring and the Man Who Ended it; and Disappearing Ink: The Insider, the FBI, and the Looting of the Kenyon College Library