The Beachwood Library (Cuyahoga County Public Library photo).
This may not be the most peaceful and united of times in America, no twenty-first century version of the Era of Good Feelings. Still, a recent occurrence is symbolically more chilling than most. Book burning brings back thoughts of Germany in the 1930s. Book burnings equate to the silencing of ideas, and the silencing of ideas means a loss of freedom. In better times, this event might be considered an isolated act by one insignificant individual. In a time when librarians are under fire and angry voices have been demanding the removal of some books from libraries, it starts to look like part of a concerning and dangerous trend. Freedom dies when free people fall asleep at the wheel.
On April 2, an as yet unnamed individual walked into the Beachwood Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and took out a library card. Beachwood is a suburb of Cleveland with a substantial Jewish population. He proceeded to borrow 50 books. Evidently, they do not have very stringent borrowing limits at this library. Topics were described as Jewish history, African American history, and LGBTQ.
Apparently, this individual posted a picture of a car trunk filled with books on Gab.com. Gab is a website with few standards concerning what is posted, making it a place where neo-Nazis and others from the far right are free to post hateful messages. The Beachwood Library was notified of the picture by the Princeton University Bridging Divides Initiative. BDI describes itself as “a non-partisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States.” The picture was accompanied by a message about “cleansing” the library. The books appeared to match the topics of the books that had been borrowed and some showed Cuyahoga County Library stickers on them.
On April 10, the same individual returned to the Beachwood Library and borrowed another 50 books. Some libraries do allow patrons to borrow 100 books at a time so perhaps that was Beachwood's policy. The topics were the same. The borrower told a librarian that his son was LGBTQ and he wanted to learn more about it. A police report said that a librarian found the man's behavior odd, but he was not threatening nor violating any rules.
Later, the library was again contacted by the Princeton Bridging Divides Initiative to say the person had posted another video that appeared to show him burning all 100 of the books. The police report indicated that the theme of the books was again the same and one of the books showed a CCPL sticker on it. That title matched one this individual had “borrowed.”
The books were valued at $1,700. Since none of the books was overdue at the time, there was no cause yet even to bill him. We await further developments and will post them here as they arise.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Queen Elizabeth I. A queen’s defense of the realm, and the birth of the British Empire. $500,000 to $700,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. A long and intimate autograph letter signed ("JA"), to Cassandra Austen. $300,000 to $400,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. “Lines on Maria Beckford,” autograph manuscript signed ("Jane Austen"). $100,000 to $150,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.
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Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: These are the Times that Try Men's Souls, Thomas Paine. $80,000-$120,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Manuscrpit from Aboard The Discovery, Signed by George Vancouver. $80,000-$120,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Exceedingly Rare Holograph Fragment of James Cook's Logbook. $80,000-$120,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Thomas Lechford: Important First-Hand Account of Life in New England. $40,000-$60,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: The First Expanded Edition of Common Sense, Thomas Paine. $30,000-$50,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Album of Exceptional California Lettersheets. $20,000-$30,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: An Exceptional Group of Gold Rush Letters, c. 1849-1850. $20,000-$30,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Mather's King Phillips War Tract 1639-1723. $15,000-$25,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: The First Contemporaneous Account of the Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather. $15,000-$25,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Poor Richard's Almanack 1749, Benjamin Franklin. $15,000-$20,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Fruits of Mormonism by Nelson Slater. $15,000-$25,000
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin, Across the Plains in '49 by Emanuel Goughnour. $12,000-$18,000
![<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d61e5df0-f7df-4ff3-b120-69c4c4ded5d5.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/3d91ed5b-6dab-40a2-8ec2-3ba57b219840.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.")
