The proprietors of B&B Rare Books in New York City noticed suspicious activity when a young man arrived last year with a vast collection of vintage literature for sale.
One of the items he presented was a compilation of 37 love letters, including handwritten notes, written by renowned English poet John Keats to his betrothed, Fanny Brawne.
According to Joshua Mann, co-owner of the store, the seller asserted that the letters had been passed down through his family for generations and originally belonged to his grandfather. However, he failed to provide any supporting evidence for his claim.
“There were several red flags that made us suspicious,” Mann informed As It Happens guest host Nora Young.
Mann’s intuition was accurate. The books, valued at approximately $3 million US ($4.1 million Cdn), were discovered to have been stolen from a private collection in the 1980s. They have since been restored to their rightful owner.
“We are committed to preventing our city from becoming a hub for illicitly traded art and antiquities,” stated Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a recent announcement.
A Heartrending Love Tale
Keats, a prominent figure of the Romantic period, regarded Brawne as the love of his life and his source of inspiration.
The couple had intended to wed. However, in September 1820, Keats departed for Rome in the hope that a warmer climate would alleviate the illness that had long afflicted him.
Tragically, he succumbed to tuberculosis five months later at the age of 25.
In his final correspondence to Brawne, he expressed, “I wish you could devise a way to bring me some happiness without you. I am increasingly focused on you with each passing hour; everything else seems insipid to me.”
Portraits of poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne are displayed at his house in London. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Upon Brawne’s death in 1865, she bequeathed the letters to her offspring, who auctioned them off in 1885.
At that time, Irish poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde penned a critical poem about the auction, criticizing the bidders: “I believe they do not appreciate art.”
Subsequently, the volume found its way into the private collection of John Hay Whitney, former publisher of the New York Herald Tribune and U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
As per the New York District Attorney’s Office, Whitney was an enthusiastic collector