More maps turn up on list of missing

Officials at the Boston Public Library determined yesterday that a total of 10 valuable maps are missing, as a respected rare-maps dealer who used the missing materials appeared in a Connecticut courtroom to answer charges of stealing maps from Yale University.

Staff members found a book yesterday missing three maps, said Bernard A. Margolis, the BPL president. The loss of the 10 missing maps so far is estimated at $165,000, he said. Seven other maps from five books were discovered missing last week.

BPL officials have notified the FBI, which was already investigating E. Forbes Smiley III in the Yale case and have contacted Boston police, in hopes of having the maps returned, Margolis said. An FBI spokeswoman refused to say if the bureau is investigating the apparent thefts.

The BPL does not insure individual books or collections, Margolis said.

The discovery came on the same day Smiley pleaded not guilty in a New Haven court on charges of stealing maps from a Yale library.

Neither Smiley nor his lawyer had any comment on the state case or the federal investigation yesterday.

Smiley, 49, of Martha's Vineyard, was arrested on larceny charges on June 8 after a librarian at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New Haven found an X-Acto knife blade on the floor near where Smiley was sitting, reviewing rare books.

Police confronted Smiley and found eight maps in his possession.

Police said four of the maps, belonging to the Yale library, were valued at $300,000. The other four maps included one drawn in the 16th century that was valued at $500,000, authorities said.

Margolis said he believes a map of Lake Superior found in Smiley's possession when he was arrested in New Haven may belong to the Boston Public Library's collection.

Smiley is a revered map collector who has worked with top museums and wealthy private collectors for more than two decades, helping assemble some of the most admired archives in the country.

Curators at the BPL began reviewing their collection after Smiley's arrest.

Because it is so difficult to go through the library's collections, it is unknown when the investigation will be completed, Margolis said.

To find maps that are missing, the staff first manually has to go through the call slips that researchers fill out when requesting books to learn what materials Smiley, a library visitor since the 1980s, used. Then the staff must check the library catalog to see what, if any, maps are supposed to be in the book. Finally, they must go through each book and see if the maps are still there.

Smiley visited the BPL several times a year during the past two decades, often using various books each time, Margolis said.

''We are talking about thousands of books over many years' time," he said.

The charges against Smiley sparked internal investigations at many libraries with map collections. Since then, libraries in Chicago, New York, and London have also reported finding gaps in their collections.

Charles T. Cullen, president of the Newberry Library in Chicago, said he discovered that two maps were missing from books Smiley had reviewed in his only visit to the library in March.

Harvard University is also reviewing its collection, a spokeswoman said yesterday, but would not say if any maps have been found to be missing.

The BPL is in the process of beefing up security, Margolis said, though he would not give specifics on what measures are being improved or added.

''We want to learn from this and do everything possible not to lose another map, ever," Margolis said.

Security in the research room is already strict. Researchers must review material in a guarded room where they are observed by staff and materials are delivered to them at their desks.