ABC 7 Eyewitness News
By Aaron Katersky
April 20th, 2026
Stolen rare books valued at $3M seized in Manhattan, returned to rightful heirs
Rare books by Keats, Wilde and Joyce that were stolen in the 1980s from the home of the sportsman, investor, publisher, philanthropist and ambassador John Hay Whitney were returned to his heirs Monday after they were intercepted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The books were stolen from Whitney’s Long Island home between 1982 and 1989 and resurfaced last year in Manhattan when someone tried to sell two of them to rare book dealers. The books were then seized pursuant to search warrants, and in 2026 a judge authorized them to be turned over to the Whitney family.
The heirs will auction the books, which are collectively valued at nearly $3 million, and donate the proceeds.
“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. 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,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement announcing the return.
John Whitney was a highly decorated World War II veteran, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, president of the Museum of Modern Art, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was also an avid art collector and inherited hundreds of rare books from his mother, the poet Helen Hay.
