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The National Library of Sweden, also known as the Royal Library, in Stockholm. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Rare stolen Swedish atlas recovered at NY gallery

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
The National Library of Sweden, also known as the Royal Library, in Stockholm. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
The National Library of Sweden, also known as the Royal Library, in Stockholm. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

NEW YORK (AP) – A rare atlas stolen a decade ago from the Royal Library of Sweden has been recovered in New York.

Swedish and U.S. authorities showed off the 415-year-old Wytfliet Atlas at a news conference Wednesday.

It’s the first of 56 rare books stolen from the library to be located.

The books were stolen from 1995 to 2004 by a library employee who later killed himself. A library lawyer says all the volumes were sold through a German auction house.

The Royal Library in June 2011 discovered that the atlas was being offered for sale by Arader Galleries. The New York map dealer helped return it.

The atlas includes the first printed map of California.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-27-12 1521GMT

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The National Library of Sweden, also known as the Royal Library, in Stockholm. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
The National Library of Sweden, also known as the Royal Library, in Stockholm. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.