International theft
This article in The Oxford Student, titled "Christ Church locked in cross-continental dispute with Japan over stolen 16th century rare book," is an interesting one. In 1995 some guy stole a bunch of valuable books from Oxford University. One of these books made its way to Nippon Dental University, where it now resides in the school's museum collection. Oxford has learned this and is looking to get its property back.
The Japanese statute of limitations apparently lets the dental university hold on to the book (which it obtained in good faith) since a number of years have passed since the theft. The right thing to do, of course, is to return the text anyway, and I think the school should send that book back to its original home.
At the same time, though, this story reminds me of the fantastic collections in British museums, and how they were put together . . . When the British librarian quoted in the Oxford publication states "Any institution that knowingly keeps stolen property must forfeit its place in the international scholarly community,” he's right. But does he realize how dangerous this statement is to the moral standing of all the academic and museum collections in his nation?
Elginism.com has some pertinent things to read in this vein.
