Real-life book crime:
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Book case: novel crime method uncovered

A literary scam has been uncovered by eagle-eyed librarians in Stockholm and Uppsala. According to Wednesday's Dagens Nyheter a man used the Internet to sell rare books - which he had stolen from at least three different libraries.

He managed to get buyers from as far away as Hungary - allegedly offering up to 160,000 crowns for rare copies. The 34 year old is said to have been selling these books on the Internet for some time and had created a booklist for buyers using the library databases as an initial source. The books could be worth up to one million crowns.

Staff at the libraries noticed the that the gaps on their shelves corresponded to the listings on the site, and called the police. The "criminal strategy" used by the 34 year old has been described by the police as "refined".

He visited the Carolina Rediviva Library and the Karin Boye Library in Uppsala, as well as the Royal Library in Stockholm to gather information about the books whilst working on his website and completing his database. It is believed that he, or someone else, returned after some time to the library to steal the books.

If the man is found guilty, the courts are expected to throw the book at him, closing a sorry chapter in his criminal career.
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From: [www.thelocal.se]

Throw which book at him? And is it a nice, heavy one, for maximum damage potential?

Probably not one of the ones he stole, if it was really rare.

You'd hope it wasn't one of the one's he stole:)



=)

Yes.... Uh, no.... Actually......I don't know.... Um, hang on.... What was the question again?

I'm guessing the Swedish law book, which is indeed a heavy book: 3650 pages bound in a blue-covered hardback.

It can't be one of the ones he stole; he sold those already. I doubt the library will be able to recover those.

I found 'The Prehistory of Europe' very handy when applied to a large spider that was altogether too close to my bed.

Oooh Skiffle, how could you?

By which I mean flatten the poor spider, although spider haters may take it to mean abuse the book. In fact, how could you on both counts?

Every time you kill a spider, it rains. This might explain British and Irish (and Welsh) weather.

No Skiffle's right, all spiders must be destroyed. Had a mother of a one attached to my leg on sunday which only detached itself after about five minutes jumping up and down and shrieking. It got away before I managed to obliterate it with the yellow pages tho which is probably why its been so sunny this week!

You read the prehistory of europe before you go to bed?

You had a spider that jumped up and down shreiking on your leg?

You should have caught it and shown it for a small fee. You'd have made a fortune.

Gussie said

"You read the prehistory of europe before you go to bed?"

You've misunderstood. Skiffle is soo really really tiny that she has to stand on the book to get onto her bed.

Aah, shame. Do not mock tiny creatures, it is cruel.
Can't be right anyway. Ifn she was that small, she couldn't hit the spider, cos she couldn't lift the book,
Be kind to spiders; they eat flies.

I prefer having spiders around to flies, and normally leave spiders well alone. However, this was a particularly muscular beef spider, and it was far too close to my bed for peace of mind. It was late at night, and I wasn't feeling brave enough to pick it up somehow and put it outside.

As for 'The Prehistory of Europe', I was actually reading a Monica Edwards paperback when I saw the spider. The Monica Edwards book happens to be a collectable title, part of the collection of vintage pony books which lives in my bedroom. No way was I going to squash anything with one of those.
'The Prehistory of Europe' is about 20 years out of date, and was hanging around in my bedroom because I hadn't got around to putting back in its proper place after looking something up.

And I might be short, but I can so get into my bed without standing on a book.

Though I did need to use a low stool to get into the spare bed at AAC's house when I stayed there. It was a very comfy bed, but built on a rather epic scale.

Don't tell Hades, but Shakespeare's early manuscripts are going online:
[tinyurl.com]

Hee - I would love to say it was the spider that was making a fool of itself by jumping up and down and shrieking, but no, that was me.

I can understand people being upset by spiders, although I'm not, but...
A friend's wife used to go into absolute shrieking fits if a daddy long legs [a crane-fly for US readers?] came near. I know they are a bit flappy, but not that offensive surely?
But then, I suppose if you gotta phobia, then that's it; it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else.

I have a slight phobia of spiders due to being bitten by one about 4 years ago.

So I tend to either squish it with whatever I have nearby, or run screaming, away from it.

Most Aussies seem to love spiders - explains why we always have droughts!



=)

Yes.... Uh, no.... Actually......I don't know.... Um, hang on.... What was the question again?

Skiffle, it sounds like we have similar philosopies regarding spiders. As long as they're below a certain size, and stay out of my face, I tend to either leave them alone or put them outside. I cohabited with one in my bedroom for several weeks last autumn, before it pushed its luck by venturing onto my pillow.

And yes, AAC's guest bed is rather large, isn't it? I was able to climb on without a stool, but it took a bit more effort than usual, and I'm of average height.



Post Edited (09-14-04 01:33)

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&quot;I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around.&quot;
--Ross Smith

It's a daddy long legs here too, Boff.

Yeah, crane-flies are something else that look similar.