Hunt for chubby book thief
The Henley Standard published this bit of info about a book theft:
THREE rare books have been stolen from Jonkers in Henley.
The most valuable was The Man Upstairs by PG Wodehouse, published in 1914, which is worth £2,750. The others were Time For A Tiger by Anthony Burgess, published in 1956, worth £800, and Dead Mr Nixon by TH White, published in 1931, worth £500.
All three are first edition hardback copies and are clothbound. They were stolen from the rare book specialists in Hart Street on June 8.
Police said the thief entered the shop at about 2pm and asked to see different books but then left abruptly when the assistant was occupied.
On July 7, the shop was contacted by an antiquarian bookseller in New York which was offered TH White’s murder mystery but turned it down. A stock check by staff at Jonkers found that the other two texts were missing.
Christiaan Jonkers, who owns the shop, said it would be difficult for the books to be moved on unnoticed.
He said: “Whoever stole them will be ultimately disappointed because they are so recognizable. The antiquarian book world is so tight-knit that as soon as they try and offer them for sale somebody will pick up on them.
“There are not many copies of these books, hence their value.”
The thief is described as being in his fifties, of average height and chubby.
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