The proprietors of B&B Rare Books in New York City became suspicious when a young man approached them last year with a significant collection of antique literature for sale. Included in his offerings were 37 love letters written by English poet John Keats to his fiancée, Fanny Brawne. The seller claimed the letters had been passed down through his family for generations, originating from his grandfather, but failed to provide any supporting evidence.
Joshua Mann, co-owner of the store, felt uneasy about the situation, and his intuition was proven correct. The books, estimated to be worth around $3 million US ($4.1 million Cdn), were discovered to have been stolen from a private collection in the 1980s. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg emphasized the importance of combating the trafficking of art and antiquities in the borough.
The tragic love story between Keats and Brawne, where Keats, a Romantic poet, viewed Brawne as his true love and inspiration, ended abruptly when Keats passed away in Rome at the young age of 25. The letters, originally left to Brawne’s children after her death, were eventually auctioned off in 1885. They later found their way into the possession of John Hay Whitney, a prominent figure in the publishing world and U.S. ambassador to the UK, who had a collection of stolen art and books.
Efforts by Mann and his business partner to investigate the origins of the books led them to uncover the theft through the Art Loss Register, prompting the return of the stolen items to Whitney’s grandson. While the remaining stolen books are still missing, the family plans to auction off the collection, including works by famous authors such as Wilde and the Brothers Grimm, with proceeds going to charity.
Despite the significant value of the Keats letters, estimated at $2 million US ($2.7 million Cdn), Mann expressed mixed feelings about them returning to auction, as they had hoped to place them in public institutions or special collection libraries rather than selling to the highest bidder. Scholars, like John Savarese from the University of Waterloo, emphasize the cultural and historical value of these rediscovered letters, considering them as cherished relics that offer a unique connection to the poet’s life and work.
