Prosecutors Return Stolen Rare Books To Whitney Family

NEW YORK CITY — Seventeen rare books stolen decades ago from a prominent Long Island family have been returned, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

The books, once owned by philanthropists John Hay Whitney and Betsey Whitney, were taken from their home sometime in the 1980s, according to prosecutors.

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The collection includes works by John Keats, Oscar Wilde and James Joyce.

Authorities recovered the books after they resurfaced in Manhattan in January 2025, when someone attempted to sell them to two rare book dealers in Midtown — TK and TK.

The dealers alerted law enforcement after discovering the items were listed on the Art Loss Register, officials said.

Investigators seized the books through a series of search warrants, and a New York State Supreme Court judge authorized their return to the Whitney family.

The 17 books are collectively valued at nearly $3 million. The Whitney heirs plan to auction them and donate the proceeds, Bragg said.

"Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, home to museums, galleries, and dealers displaying incredible artworks and antiquities," Bragg said. "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."

John Hay Whitney, a World War II veteran and former publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, was also president of the Museum of Modern Art and served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Betsey Whitney was a philanthropist who founded the Greentree Foundation.

Whitney inherited hundreds of rare books from his mother, poet Helen Hay. At least 28 of those books were reported missing between 1982 and 1989.

Among the recovered items is a collection of 37 love letters written by Keats to his fiancée, Fanny Brawne, including eight original handwritten letters. The set alone is valued at more than $2 million.

The investigation into how the books were stolen, and the whereabouts of 11 still-missing volumes, remains ongoing, prosecutors said.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.