LIBRARY RAIDED

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 42, 18 August 1930, Page 10

LIBRARY RAIDED

VALUABLE BOOKS CONE PRICELESS BIBLE Bare books, including a Sharagram Bible, have been stolen from the Eoyal Army Medical College Library, Millbank, London, S.W., says the "Manchester Guardian.' • The theft occurred at night, and until the catalogue has been examined tho exact number and,nature of the stolen books will not be known. The commandant of the college said to a reporter: "According to a rough estimate the books number about fifty. They are of great value,, and include an almost priceless Sharagram, Bible, old- medical treatises, a map, and medals." How the thieves entered the library is a mystery. Inside they forced a largo case. The theft was discovered by the officer in charge of the guard. Messages giving all the known details of the stolen treasures have been sent to the Continent and to America, and warning has been sent to home ports. Tho Sharagram Bible, which is dated 1580,.was written by Philiros on vellum. Tho map is a Venetian chart of 1463 and is in four parts. An official statement issued from Scotland Yard stated:— "A 2*rge number of rare books is missing from the library of the Eoyal Army Medical College, Millbank. Included among the missing books are a Sharagram Bible of 1580-1590, written by Philiros the deacon in Armenian language, with a number of full-page plates and a number of illuminations; a Venetian chart of 1643 by Cranopus Benincasa in four parts; a rare collection of sketches. and notes by Sir Charles Bell of the wounded at the Battle of "Waterloo; an early period inkstand with tho following inscription: 'Sarah Bawditch from Madame Cuvier,' and a number of bronze, silver, and gold medals and rare books and manuscripts."