BPL, Harvard renew map quest

The Boston Public Library and Harvard University's Houghton Library are among a group of institutions raising new concerns about antique maps still missing from their collections, weeks after a Martha's Vineyard man pleaded guilty to stealing dozens of their rare antique maps.

Map specialists from the Boston and Harvard libraries plan to meet next week with librarians from other institutions where maps were stolen, including the New York Public Library and two Yale University libraries, to determine which of their maps have been recovered and which are still missing.

``I think all of the affected institutions believe [Forbes Smiley] took other maps," said Bernard Margolis, the Boston Public Library's president.

In June, E. Forbes Smiley III, a former map dealer from Chilmark, pleaded guilty to stealing 97 rare and valuable maps from a half dozen libraries in Boston, New York, New Haven, Chicago, and London. During an investigation that lasted almost a year, Smiley cooperated with FBI agents and federal prosecutors, helping them track down dozens of maps he stole and then sold to unsuspecting collectors. Smiley faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.6 million.

Smiley admitted taking 34 maps from the Boston Public Library. The maps, drawn in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, are valued at more than $500,000, said Margolis. All but three have been recovered by investigators and will be returned to Boston after Smiley is sentenced next month. Another map will be returned to the library by a private collector who heard about the thefts and realized it was stolen, said Margolis. He declined to specify what maps are still missing in Boston.

Harvard officials released a list of five maps they think Smiley may have snatched in addition to the eight maps he admitted taking there. Among the documents still missing are a 1625 map of New England by English travel writer Samuel Purchas and another of ``la Novvelle Franse" drawn by French navigator Samuel de Champlain in 1612. Library records show that all five of the still-missing maps had been viewed by Smiley, Harvard library spokeswoman Beth Brainard said.

``We have some missing maps, and we know that he looked at them, so that's very interesting to us," she said.

Yale University officials have made no specific accusations, but have identified more than 75 maps still missing from their collection, in addition to the 20 maps Smiley admitted he pilfered.

Smiley did not return a phone call seeking comment yesterday. His lawyer, Richard Reeve, also could not be reached, but told the Hartford Courant that Smiley has not held back information and may be at risk of becoming a scapegoat.

US Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor, whose New Haven office worked on the investigation, said he has no reason to believe that Smiley hid any thefts.

He acknowledged that Smiley may have taken other maps and said he is willing to consider new information. But he said that others could also have taken the documents, given the lack of security at the libraries.

Smiley had sliced maps out of rare books for years before he was caught last June at Yale, where a librarian became suspicious after he dropped an X-Acto knife blade on the floor.

``Look how easy it was for him," O'Connor said.

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