January 29, 2008
A thief in the archives
From today's NY Times:
Until two weeks ago, Joseph Romito, a history buff, was not a person who trolled the Internet for artifacts related to the statesman John C. Calhoun, a 19th-century vice president.As I've noted before, eBay has become thieves' best friend and their worst enemy -- not due to any initiative on eBay's part, but rather because how it empowers investigators, official and unofficial. Can you imagine what it would take to seek out a Calhoun letter in a single antiques show, let alone all the autograph, political, book, and ephemera shows held in even part of the USA over the span of a year? Tracking down thieves has also been faciilitated not only by how eBay creates a paper trail -- no more cash and carry -- but also how the collectibles food chain has been radically shortened by online trading. Before eBay, an item of specialist interest could easily change hands several times before finding its way to and end buyer. Nowadays, it's more typical that something coming straight out of an attic or garage will sell on eBay directly to a collector, or to a specialist dealer who will then sell it to a collector.
But on Jan. 17, he happened to type the name into a search field on eBay, saw a listing for an obscure handwritten letter signed by Calhoun in 1823, and recalled having seen it somewhere else. . .Mr. Romito's discovery led quickly to a state investigation, and on Monday resulted in charges being filed against the would-be seller, Daniel D. Lorello. Mr. Lorello, 54, has worked at the New York State Archives in Albany for 29 years. The state attorney general's office has charged him with several criminal counts, including grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, and scheming to defraud.
In a handwritten confession that the authorities obtained from Mr. Lorello on Thursday, he said he had been illegally selling rare books and documents from the state's collections since 2002. . .
"I estimate that I've taken more than 300 or 400 items in 2007 alone," Mr. Lorello wrote.
Posted by David on January 29, 2008 9:00 AM
One wonders who is more culpable, the greedy thief who robbed the people of thier heritage, or his superiors who seemingly lack an inventory process or security system that would prevent the acts, or caught them at an early stage. If this is taking place at one archive, one must assume it is occurring at others. Perhaps this will signal those others to inventory thier holdings and security procedures. Ebay is an interesting vehicle for the sale of materials of questional origin. A survey of what is available may include hsitorical documents, art works, fossils and archeological materials. It is doubtful if the Ebay nmanagement is capable of authenticating the items for sale.
Posted by: Donald Wolberg on January 29, 2008 2:21 PM
cronaca.com