Dealer Receives $2.3 Million Restitution Fine

E. Forbes Smiley III received a $2.3 million restitution fine in addition to his prison sentence for thefts of nearly 100 rare historic maps. It has been nearly two years in the making. E. Forbes Smiley III (it's such a great name, can't we use the whole thing all the time?) was caught by a Yale librarian as an X-acto knife was found near him. It was discovered he had some rare maps from the Yale collection on his person at the time. Since Smiley was a "respected dealer" of rare maps and had researched at a number of locations libraries and museums across the nation began checking their collections for missing pieces. Boston Public Library and Harvard's Map Collection at the Harvard College Libraries were among those institutions hit in part of the 100 maps lifted. Last year when Smiley admitted to stealing 97 rare maps Harvard released their number missing – 13. The Boston Public Library says about 36 maps are still missing – with 34 recovered during the investigation.

While Smiley was sentenced back in September to 3 ½ years in jail for the thefts, the rough estimate given at the time was only $1.9 million. After estimates were tracked down on what are often described as "priceless" maps representing all sorts of historical events and illustrations of the current perceptions of a time and a place the figure was upped to $2.3 million. The map dealer has a rich name, E. Forbes Smiley III, and a rich address, Martha's Vineyard, but might not actually have the cash to pay the fine. The institutions have accepted that it's more of a show of support and restitution than it's actual money they'll ever see. Some of the 97 maps Smiley admitted to swiping have been returned or recovered as part of the process, but no justification or explanation for the thefts has been given by E. Forbes the Third.

Image is a GoogleEarth screen grab with a historical map overlay of 1842 Boston, our preferred way to check out historical maps.