Departures of note

In 1841, Guglielmo Libri obtained an appointment as Chief Inspector of French Libraries, a role that gave him access to valuable collections across the country. Claiming poor health and wearing a large cape to avoid suspicion, he spent time alone in archives, where he 'borrowed' items that were never returned. His thefts included the Ashburnham Pentateuch from the Library of Tours and letters by Descartes, and he sometimes mutilated manuscripts, removing at least two thousand leaves.

Born in Florence in 1803, Libri studied mathematics at the University of Pisa, graduating in 1820, and became a professor of mathematical physics at age 20. After becoming involved with the Carbonari political society, he fled to France in 1831, where he became a citizen and held prestigious academic posts, including professor at the Collège de France and assistant professor at the Sorbonne. He was also elected to the Academy and awarded the Légion d'honneur.

Between 1838 and 1841, Libri published a four-volume history of mathematics in Italy, based in part on manuscripts he had collected—some of which were later revealed to have been stolen from the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence. In 1848, as the French government fell, a warrant was issued for his arrest, but he fled to England, shipping 18 trunks containing about 30,000 books and manuscripts. He was convicted in absentia in 1850 and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

In London, Libri enjoyed a comfortable life funded by selling rare items, with two sales in 1861 reportedly earning over a million francs. After his death in 1869, some stolen manuscripts were returned to Italy and France, though many remained missing. As late as 2010, a stolen Descartes letter was found in a U.S. college library and repatriated to France.