[benjulmag]

To respond, I did do my due diligence. I scrupulously examined the cdv to see if it had any identifying marks to indicate it was stolen property. On top of that, I was explicitly told the NYPL was notified of the Copeland sale and told some of the items in it matched missing items that were on the original Spalding inventory list. Yet I was told the NYPL took no action to assert claim to anything and the auction went on. I do not know anything I purchased was stolen. The Forest Citys cdv you refer to is an albumen photographic item that is not unique. In fact years later I sold it when ANOTHER one in better condition surfaced.

In another instance when I had an opportunity to purchase a rare item, not only did I check the original Spalding inventory (it was not on it), but I spent half a day at the NYPL looking at microfilm of similar items in the event the item was inadvertently not listed or listed incorrectly.

I'm not downplaying the importance of stolen items being returned to their rightful institutions. Nor do I believe that individuals who put their heads in the sand and intentionaly overlook telltale signs an item might be stolen should not be forced to relinquish owneship. But I do feel institutions have affirmative obligations too, and I believe those obligations are not just ethical but also legal -- to take reasonable actions to timely assert claims of ownership when reasonably put on notice items are about to be auctioned, and to publicize lists of stolen items.