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$400,000 Worth of Stolen 1500s Books Returned to Italy

3/26/2026

36 8 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Six stolen Chinese-language books valued at $400,000 were returned to Italian officials after a multinational investigation.
The books date to the 1500s and were taken from the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu between 1999 and 2002.
They were on loan to the University of Notre Dame from a Chinese collector who purchased them in an online auction and investigators are withholding the identities of the buyer and the auction house.

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Story summary

Six stolen Chinese-language books valued at $400,000 were returned to Italian officials after a multinational investigation.
The books date to the 1500s and were taken from the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu between 1999 and 2002.
They were on loan to the University of Notre Dame from a Chinese collector who purchased them in an online auction and investigators are withholding the identities of the buyer and the auction house.