LONDON (ACNI) – In a move that has taken many of its employees by surprise, the London publishing conglomerate dmg world media has sold its antiques trade newspaper in England and will soon consummate the sale of its U.S. antiques titles. Among the publications affected are the London-based Antiques Trade Gazette (ATG), and the U.S. publications AntiqueWeek, AntiqueWest and Auction Exchange.

On Oct. 6, all staff members at the Knightstown, Ind., production offices of dmg’s U.S. newspapers were asked to assemble for a meeting called by publisher Richard Lewis. At that meeting, Lewis advised employees that dmg’s three antiques-related titles produced in the Knightstown plant, as well as a fourth title published on site – the agricultural special interest weekly Farm World – were under contract to be sold. Lewis said the sale would be finalized in 30 to 45 days and that he would be staying on as publisher, although it is unclear whether it would be in a temporary or permanent capacity. At this point in time, all staff are expected to be retained.

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NEW YORK (AP) – A historian and author was sentenced Friday to a year and a half in prison after apologizing for stealing letters that were written by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and prized by Theodore Roosevelt.

Edward Renehan Jr., 52, also must pay more than $86,000 in restitution to a Manhattan gallery where he tried to resell the letters, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered as he imposed the sentence.

Renehan admitted he stole the presidential letters in 2006 and 2007 from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, based in Oyster Bay, on Long Island. He was then its acting director.

“I have taken my golden bowl and foolishly and recklessly dashed it upon rocks of self destruction,” said Renehan, who has written six books. “I alone am responsible for this one great, indelible stain which now and forever disfigures a life I am otherwise proud of.”

Renehan, of North Kingstown, R.I., said the crime occurred when he was in the manic phase of what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder.

He pleaded guilty this year to interstate transportation of stolen property. One letter was handwritten by Lincoln on March 1, 1840; two were written by Washington. One of those was dated Aug. 9, 1791, the other Dec. 29, 1778.

Renehan still faces a state charge of stealing and trying to auction off a 1918 letter that President Roosevelt wrote about his son Quentin’s death in World War I.

Roosevelt Association director Jim Bruns said outside court that it was “a painful pill when a historian is caught in a position like this.” But he said it was a significant breach of trust that must be faced.

Roosevelt bought the letters because they reminded him of the quality of character that Washington and Lincoln both had, he said.

One Washington letter was to a general and pertained to the treatment of some property, while the other Washington letter dealt with day-to-day concerns of the American people, Bruns said. The Lincoln letter was written to a friend and related to an 1840 election, he said.

Roosevelt kept all three letters in the library at his home until his death, he said.

The letters were stolen from a vault at the home where Roosevelt was born, on East 20th Street in Manhattan, Bruns said.
He said the association expected to have the letters back soon, though one of the Washington letters is now missing the ornate frame that Roosevelt had made for it. A buyer did not understand its value and destroyed it, Bruns said.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – With surgical gloves, S. Waite Rawls III pulls out a large drawer in the basement of the Museum of the Confederacy to reveal a startling display: dolls the size of children, neatly lined up like small bodies on a morgue slab.

The dolls are among what the museum calls the “world’s most comprehensive collection of Confederate artifacts,” a trove valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Rawls, the museum’s president and CEO.

But at any given time, only 10 percent to 15 percent of the museum’s holdings are on display on the building’s three floors. The rest remains tucked away in gray cabinets, boxes stacked high and, in the case of delicate flags, in clear, sealed containers designed to hold the ancient stitching in place.

In 2011, a portion of the museum collection is scheduled to go on the road, journeying to three historic Virginia sites as part of a plan to bring the artifacts of the U.S. Civil War to the people.
The Confederacy was the group of pro-slavery southern states that seceded from the United States. The 1861-65 war ended in victory for the northern states, the abolishment of slavery and the return of the rebellious states to the union.

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MIAMI (AP) – Three years ago, an elderly Italian man pulled his van into a South Florida park to sell some rare, 2,500-year-old emeralds plundered from a South American tomb. But Ugo Bagnato, an archaeologist, didn’t know his potential customer was a federal agent.

Bagnato flashed the green gems, which were as large as dominoes, and explained to the immigration and customs agent that he had bribed South American authorities and used fake paperwork to smuggle the highly illegal goods into the United States.

Authorities discovered Bagnato had a cache of more than 400 artifacts from Peru and Colombia, all predating Columbus’ arrival in the Americas: burial shrouds, jewelry, terra cotta pots and other treasures were wedged in boxes in his van and kept in a storage unit.

Bagnato was arrested, charged with the sale and receipt of stolen goods, and in 2006, pleaded guilty. He was later deported.

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LA PLATA, Md. (AP) – It was spirits — the alcoholic kind, not ghosts — that led archaeologists to a 17th-century courthouse.

Around the 1670s, it seems, councilmen and judges spent a fair amount of their time guzzling liquor. Remnants of their wine bottles and beer tankards are, therefore, easy to find.

It was pieces of those stone and glass vessels that led a team of archaeologists to find the original Charles County courthouse, the oldest government building in Maryland whose remnants could never be located – until now.
“Oh, they drank at night when they were sitting around talking about the day, they drank on breaks and they might even have been doing it when they were in court,” said Julia King. She’s an anthropology professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and she led a group of students in searching for the courthouse. “You can see pieces of their glasses everywhere you turn.”

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FREMONT, Ohio (AP) – Two rare books stolen from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center library remained missing as of Friday, Sept. 12, including a book of Ohio laws that is believed to be the first book printed in the state.

Three people have been arrested, but authorities haven’t been able to track down the books, valued at $130,000. Federal agents arrested the three in the Columbus area on Sept. 10.

Joshua McCarty, 31, and his girlfriend, Angela Bays, 19, both of Columbus, and Zachary Scranton, 21, of Marysville, were charged with theft of major artwork. They were released on bond after initial appearances in federal court. Messages seeking comment were left Friday with McCarty and Scranton. There was no listing for Bays.

The Hayes Presidential Center includes the library and the president’s former home, which is about 35 miles southeast of Toledo. The estate has been open to the public since 1916.

Hayes, a Republican, served from 1876 to 1880. The former three-term governor of Ohio beat Samuel Tilden by one electoral vote in 1876 without winning the popular vote.

According to an FBI affidavit, McCarty and Bays visited the presidential center’s library on June 27 and asked to look at a book called The Maxwell Code.

A library employee later confronted McCarty after seeing him leave a women’s restroom with the book, which was printed in 1795 and contains the first printing of Ohio laws, the affidavit said. Fewer than 10 copies are known to exist.

The employee returned the book and another book, but he did not realize the pages had been torn out of The Freeman Code, which was printed in 1798 and contained laws of the Northwest Territory, the affidavit said.

A few months later, Scranton visited the library and asked to view The Maxwell Code.
Scranton left the library, saying he had to make a phone call and didn’t come back, the affidavit said. Employees realized he stole the book and called police, the affidavit said.

Scranton’s court-appointed attorney, Alan Pfeuffer, said Friday his client didn’t intend to keep the book and that it was going to be given to someone else. He declined to elaborate.

Library officials alerted book dealers and auction houses about the missing book. Several book dealers said they were contacted by McCarty and said that he recently sold a copy of The Freeman Code through a Philadelphia dealer who was unaware it was stolen, according to the affidavit. The dealer told authorities he sold the book for $35,000 to someone in England.

Police and FBI agents traced cell phone calls made to the dealer from McCarty, the affidavit said.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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