If the thefts from the Royal Library, in Denmark, is anything to go by, I would look into past librarians. Especially those that have retired.
Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
41–50 of 123 posts
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#42I’m probably a cynic, but I have to wonder if this admission is somehow linked to the inevitable issues with funding because of Covid19, i.e. Cambridge might be trying to get something out of their insurers.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#43I’m probably a cynic, but I have to wonder if this admission is somehow linked to the inevitable issues with funding because of Covid19, i.e. Cambridge might be trying to get something out of their insurers.
They could try, but given it's been 20 years ago and apparently they never reported it, slim chance at that.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#44I’m probably a cynic, but I have to wonder if this admission is somehow linked to the inevitable issues with funding because of Covid19, i.e. Cambridge might be trying to get something out of their insurers.
It might be because yesterday was the anniversary of the first publication of On the Origin of Species (first published 24 November 1859) so people looking for Darwin-related news?
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apparently there are a lot of high net-worth individuals that take pleasure in acquiring such cultural goods to hang them in their private studies or re-sell them. The Nebra Sky Disk ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebra_sky_disk ) was e.g. excavated by two "tomb raiders" who sold it on the black market, and only after the disk changed hands multiple times it was re-acquired by the federal government in a sting polic…
Sounds straight out of the movies. Black market for ancient/cultural artifacts that provide no practical benefits whatsoever to someone's life. Fascinating.
No more practical value than a painting.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#46Newton’s notebooks have been digitized nicely: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-03996/55 As a research scientist, one thing that has definitely changed since the passage of FTF [0] in 2013 is the loss of a singular notebook of ideas and thoughts. Most everything is digital now, and ideas are exchanged through dozens of media which don’t facilitate easy recording to a single physical source. [0]: https://en.m.wi…
Everything should be digitised; if Google is willing to do it for free, let them.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#47Lost/theft is inevitable. Lying about it for 2 decades isn't.
Nowhere in the article does it suggest that anyone lied about the books.
It doesn’t need to.
Pretty clear from reading it that no one wanted to admit they’d been stolen on their watch, so they kept up some kind of pretence of it being lost within the library so they wouldn’t be public hounded for being responsible for its loss.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#48Newton’s notebooks have been digitized nicely: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-03996/55 As a research scientist, one thing that has definitely changed since the passage of FTF [0] in 2013 is the loss of a singular notebook of ideas and thoughts. Most everything is digital now, and ideas are exchanged through dozens of media which don’t facilitate easy recording to a single physical source. [0]: https://en.m.wi…
Everything should be digitised; if Google is willing to do it for free, let them.
All academic research libraries of proper size have been digitizing for decades.
Cambridge University Library is no exception
https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/digital-co...
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know. I don't know why I'm being downvoted either. It seems really fascinating. Is it an investment? A storage of wealth? Or did someone really decide they wanted that painting in their life instead of a brand new Boeing 747, for example? It's obviously not really worth that much, so what's it all about? Inflation is mainly due to money being creamed off into the hands of rich people, but all they are getting…
You should also listen to this Planet Money episode: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/02/09/584555705/epis... Episode 823: Planet Monet > The art market is going nuts. People are spending record amounts of money of paintings like Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. But not everyone is rushing home to hang their new artwork up on their walls. A lot of buyers are storing their art in vast warehouses near airport…
Someone's been watching too much Tennet.
Re: Charles Darwin notebooks lost and assumed stolen
#50Lost/theft is inevitable. Lying about it for 2 decades isn't.
Nowhere in the article does it suggest that anyone lied about the books.
I strongly disagree. They lied to themselves and to the world believing the notebooks have been misplaced and not stolen. The ‘no lie’ approach is clearly a part of the problem.