George Bernard Shaw Letters Gone : Rare Papers, Books Missing From Library at Cal State Fullerton

Rare books, letters and prints worth an estimated $13,000 are missing from the Special Collections room of the Cal State Fullerton Library, acting university librarian Robert A. Emry confirmed Monday night.

The missing items include a very rare set of handwritten love letters by author-playwright George Bernard Shaw. The letters, written to Alice Lockett, are “irreplaceable,” Emry said.

In a letter sent Monday to Cal State Fullerton President Jewel Plummer Cobb, Emry disclosed that library workers first discovered two items missing from the Special Collections room in June. He said this triggered a full-fledged inventory, and a total of 46 items were found to be missing.

Abbott Book Also Missing

The Shaw letters were among the first two items found missing, Emry said. Another very rare piece missing from the collection, Emry said, was a 19th-Century edition of “The Flatlands” by Edwin Abbott. Emry noted that the book “is a fantasy satire that was an early example of science fiction.”

Emry said Monday that campus police were notified of the missing items July 14 and that they “are working with various other agencies” and are continuing to look for clues in the disappearance. Emry declined to say whether “the other agencies” include the Fullerton Police Department.

Asked if there are any suspects in the case, Emry replied, “I don’t even know if they are stolen. It is possible the items are misplaced, but not probable.”

Emry said the Special Collections items are literally kept under lock and key in a special room in the Cal State Fullerton Library. He said any scholar wishing to examine the prints and documents must be personally admitted by a library official, and he added that it would be very difficult for anyone to slip out with one of the rare documents.

In his letter to Cobb and other university officials, Emry said the efforts to get the missing documents back include putting notices in several national library publications, asking for information about the missing items.

Emry’s letter said the value of the 46 missing items is at least $13,000 and that the individual items range in value from $3 to $600. His letter noted that “the replacement value (of the missing items) would be considerably higher.”

“The sad thing is the apparent loss to the university and the blow to the donors of these rare, very desirable items,” Emry said. “I guess there is a market for items like these. . . . I guess there would be an international market.”

Emry became acting university librarian Aug. 27. He succeeded the regular librarian, Alan Schorr, who resigned earlier in the summer, saying he wanted to return to his former home in Alaska.