Dealer faces probe in map thefts

Seven rare and valuable maps are missing from five books at the Boston Public Library, and curators are searching for more holes in the collection, as a respected rare maps dealer who used the missing materials appears in court today on theft charges, the library's president said yesterday.

Curators at the Boston library began reviewing their collection earlier this summer, after E. Forbes Smiley III, a part-time resident of Martha's Vineyard, was arrested at Yale University in New Haven. He was scheduled to appear in a New Haven court today on charges of stealing maps worth more than $300,000 from a university library.

Bernard Margolis, the Boston library's president, said staff members were shocked to discover that maps were missing last week as they combed through books that Smiley had used in recent years.

Library officials notified the FBI, which was already investigating Smiley, and they contacted Boston police, Margolis said. Other patrons also had used the ravaged books, some of which date to the 16th century, he said. The library has begun reviewing its security procedures and expects to tighten rules for access to rare books.

''When you feel someone's taken advantage, it's a terrible thing," Margolis said. ''These materials are too valuable to let go."

Smiley, 49, one of the country's most respected rare maps dealers, is expected to plead not guilty today to several counts of larceny, his lawyer told the Associated Press.

Described by dealers and curators as a major player in the small, specialized world of high-end map collecting, Smiley worked with top museums and wealthy private collectors for more than two decades, helping them assemble some of the most admired archives in the country.

His alleged theft of four maps from Yale in June, discovered after he dropped an X-Acto knife blade on the floor of the Beinecke Library, may be the tip of the iceberg: In addition to the losses discovered in Boston, the New York Public Library and the Newberry Library in Chicago are also missing maps, Margolis said.

A total of eight maps were found in Smiley's possession when he was arrested on June 8: four that belong to Yale and four others, including one drawn in the 16th century and valued at $500,000.

Smiley told police the maps belonged to him, according to the warrant for his arrest. Asked if authorities had determined who owns the maps not claimed by Yale, an FBI spokeswoman declined to comment last month.

The FBI launched a wide-ranging investigation following Smiley's arrest. In addition to the Boston Public Library, curators at the Harvard (University) Map Collection are among those who have combed through books and atlases studied by Smiley in recent years. At Harvard, maps were still being checked last week.

Margolis described Smiley as a ''master dealer," one of a few dozen well-connected, specialist middlemen who guide the country's leading map collectors. One of the Boston library's top benefactors, real estate developer Norman Leventhal, worked with Smiley as Leventhal built his prized collection of New England maps.

Leventhal gave his $4 million, 800-item collection to the Boston library two years ago, along with $3 million to establish a new map center.

If convicted on the Connecticut charges, Smiley could face a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison, an assistant state's attorney said. Reached by phone on Martha's Vineyard recently, Smiley politely referred questions to a New Haven defense lawyer, who did not return phone calls.

Records at the Dukes County Registry of Deeds in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, suggest that Smiley had faced financial pressure recently. The Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on his Vineyard property in January for $57,000 in unpaid federal income taxes; also in January, Smiley sold a parcel of land on the Vineyard for $50,000. The federal lien was lifted in April, after his tax debt was paid, county records show.

On Smiley's wooded property off North Road in Chilmark, where a new house is under construction, there were no signs of life one recent weekday. One side of the unfinished modern structure was still open to the elements, surrounded by piles of stones and debris. The Edgartown address listed on Smiley's business website belongs to the Mailroom, a business services firm housed in a modest, gray-shingled strip mall. Employees said they know Smiley -- one acknowledged creating his website -- but they declined to discuss his arrest.

Documents for sale recently on Smiley's website included a 1781 map showing troop positions in the battle at Bunker Hill,

Yale documents found in Smiley's possession, according to police, included a $50,000 map of New England drawn in 1614 by Captain John Smith, one of the founders of Jamestown, Va.

After the Beinecke Library employee found a knife blade on the floor on June 8 near where Smiley was studying maps, a call to another Yale library quickly heightened the Beinecke librarian's suspicion. She was told that Smiley had been a suspect in an earlier, unreported case of missing documents at nearby Sterling Library, according to the arrest warrant.

A video camera was turned on, and it captured Smiley removing a $150,000 map from a library book, according to the warrant. A police detective later confronted the dealer and asked to look in his briefcase.

In Chilmark, on the quiet western end of Martha's Vineyard, Smiley was described as unassuming and gracious by a town employee who asked not to be named. ''I don't know of anyone who wasn't shocked" by his arrest, the town employee said.

In Sebec, Maine, north of Bangor, where Smiley also owns a home, the map dealer is beloved by some residents.

Sonny Connors, a lifelong resident, described Smiley as ''a perfect gentleman" who helped the town by buying and restoring a rundown farmhouse and turning it into a small market and cafe.

One of Smiley's top competitors, W. Graham Arader III, said he had long held suspicions about Smiley's rare map finds, low prices, and infrequent attendance at auctions.

Arader, who said he has assisted the FBI with other map theft cases, said escalating prices have created great temptation for unethical dealers. He has pledged to sponsor a group that will draft a code of ethics for dealers.

''Rather than being bitter, I'm going to try and make things safer," he said. ''It's time these things were cataloged like diamonds."

Jenna Russell can be reached at jrussell@globe.com.