Rare books from Whitney collection returned after 40 years.

Seventeen rare books taken from the Whitney estate in the 1980s were recovered and returned to family heirs after a 2025 attempt to sell them in Manhattan; officials say the set is valued at nearly $3 million.

Seventeen rare books reported missing decades ago from the Whitney family library were returned to the heirs on Monday, Manhattan prosecutors said. The volumes had been taken from the Greentree estate on Long Island during inventory checks conducted after John Hay Whitney's death. The set surfaced when a man attempted to sell them to two Manhattan book dealers in January 2025 and the dealers alerted authorities. Officials said the recovered items are valued at nearly $3 million. Known details: - Recovered items: 17 titles were returned and are valued at nearly $3 million; prosecutors say at least 28 books were reported missing from the Whitney estate between 1982 and 1989. - Notable works: the cache includes a bound collection of 37 love letters by John Keats (including eight original handwritten letters, reported as valued at more than $2 million), a signed first-edition of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, and Oscar Wilde's De Profundis. - How they surfaced: a man tried to sell the books to B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books in Manhattan in January 2025; both dealers notified law enforcement after finding the titles listed on the Art Loss Register. - Investigative status: Manhattan prosecutors and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit said no thief has yet been identified; the man who offered the books is not considered a suspect because he was not born when the thefts occurred, according to officials. - Family response: Peter di Bonaventura, the grandson of John and Betsey Whitney, said the family was surprised and pleased by the recovery, and the heirs plan to auction the recovered books and donate the proceeds to charity. Summary: The return reunites a significant portion of the Whitney family's rare library and restores custody of historically notable items. Prosecutors say the investigation into the other missing books is ongoing and no suspect has been publicly identified; the heirs intend to auction the recovered volumes and donate the proceeds to charity.