How Stephen Blumberg Became The World's Most Successful Book Thief

For years, Stephen Blumberg’s book thefts, for the most part, were left unnoticed. At the University of Washington, however, a police officer became suspicious about a book thief in the United States when he observed a man lurking in the campus library when a series of thefts occurred (via Guinness World Records). The man was identified as “Matthew McGue,” one of the aliases Blumberg used. It was the same identity he used to gain access to Harvard’s library. Despite the police officer’s suspicions, Blumberg wasn’t caught.

It was through his friend and accomplice, Kenny Rhodes, that the FBI was able to track down the book thief. Rhodes began working with the FBI as an informant in 1989, and he negotiated with the Justice Department for him to get a bounty of $56,000 in exchange for information about Blumberg, as reported by Harvard Magazine. In fact, Rhodes was the one who knocked on Blumberg’s door on the day of his arrest. Among those found in his home were travel journals and letters of Indian fighter General George Crook, early pioneer letters, diaries, railroad records, hand-printed bibles, first edition books, and other priceless collections.

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