Manhattan's Antiquities Trafficking Unit Recovers Rare John Keats Love Letters
One of the recovered handwritten letters John Keats to Fanny Brawne
Rare books stolen from a Long Island home in the 1980s have been returned to the heirs of John Hay Whitney and Betsey Whitney.
John Whitney was a decorated veteran from World War II, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, president of the Museum of Modern Art, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who inherited hundreds of rare books from his mother, the poet Helen Hay. His wife Betsey was a philanthropist who established the human rights-focused Greentree Foundation on donated land from the family.
The stolen books - including poems by John Keats, letters by Oscar Wilde, Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm featuring a dozen original drawings by Walter Crane, and a signed edition of Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce - were stolen from the Whitney’s Long Island home and then resurfaced in Manhattan in January 2025 when an individual attempted to sell them to B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books in Manhattan claiming he had inherited them from his grandfather. Both dealers proactively contacted law enforcement after discovering the books were listed on the Art Loss Register.
The books were seized and earlier this year a New York Supreme court judge authorized the books to be turned over to the Whitney family. The heirs will auction the books, collectively valued at nearly $3m, and donate the proceeds.
The investigation into how the books were stolen from the Whitney estate and the status of 11 other missing books is ongoing. No charges have yet been brought as the individual who attempted to sell the books had not yet been born at the time of the thefts.
Among the 17 books returned is a bound collection of 37 love letters written by poet John Keats to his fiancée Fanny Brawne. This edition of the collection features eight of the original handwritten letters bound into the portfolio, including the first letter he ever wrote to her. At her death, Fanny bequeathed the letters to her children, who sold them at auction in 1885. Their sale inspired Oscar Wilde to write a sonnet, On the Sale By Auction of Keats’ Love Letters. They are currently valued at more than $2m.
The ATU has now recovered more than 6,200 cultural treasures, including rare books, works of art, and antiquities, valued at more than $485m.
“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," said said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. "We will not allow our borough to be a center for trafficked art and antiquities."
