Rare books stolen from ex-MoMA president's Long Island home recovered decades later
Seventeen rare books worth millions of dollars that were stolen from venture capitalist John Hay Whitney's Long Island home have been recovered, decades later.
Whitney was an avid art collector who had thousands of rare books. At least 28 of them were stolen between 1982 and 1989. The Whitney family reported them missing in 1989 to the Nassau County Police Department.
They include works from famous authors, including John Keats, Oscar Wilde and James Joyce.
Whitney himself lived a storied life. He was a highly decorated World War II veteran, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, the president of the Museum of Modern Art and the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Books turn up over 30 years later
A portion of the books resurfaced in January 2025 in Manhattan when a person tried to sell them to two separate rare book dealers, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The person took the books to B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books. He told staff he inherited the books from his grandfather.
Both dealers contacted law enforcement after discovering the books were listed on the Art Loss Register. Six search warrants in 2025 and 2026 were executed, and the books were seized.
In 2026, a state supreme court judge ordered the books to be returned to the Whitney family.
An investigation into how they were stolen from the estate and the status of the remaining 11 missing is ongoing, according to prosecutors.
"Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, home to museums, galleries, and dealers displaying incredible artworks and antiquities. Yet the integrity of this marketplace is undermined when stolen items are on display," Bragg said. "We will not allow our borough to be a center for trafficked art and antiquities, and I thank our team of prosecutors and investigators for their work on this case."
Letters worth $2 million being returned
Among the books being returned is a bound collection of 37 love letters written by the British poet John Keats to his fiancée, Fanny Brawne. It has eight of the original handwritten letters, including the first letter he ever wrote to her.
Fanny's children sold them at an auction in 1885, after she died. The sale inspired Oscar Wilde to write a sonnet titled "On the Sale By Auction of Keats' Love Letters."
The notes are valued at more than $2 million.
The family plans to auction the books and donate the proceeds. They are collectively worth nearly $3 million.
