Where did Blumberg Live?

Location of Home

Stephen Blumberg, known for traveling around North America and Canada stealing books, lived in a quaint decaying red-brick Victorian house overlooking the Des Moines River in the small city of Ottumwa, in southeast Iowa. Despite frequently being out of the house on his trips to libraries, Blumberg stored his collection in this home, paid for out of his annual family trust fund.  

Interior of the Home

Well-built and sturdy bookcases lined the walls of the first and second floors of the house, both in individual rooms and hallways. Bookcases filled closets, bathroom walls, and —even if it seems odd—above doorways! The front room of Blumberg’s picturesque home housed giant glass-fronted cases where Blumberg kept his most prized possessions, both stolen and purchased. These included rare books on Native Americans, a rare copy of the 1480 Koberger Bible, and even a calfskin-bound Nuremberg Chronicle, a precious fifteenth-century world history book known for being the last not to mention Columbus.  

Blumberg left paper tabs on many of the bookcases. These were a sort of cataloging system that indicated the general theme of all the books within the particular bookcase. Even Blumberg’s bedroom was full of his books since he desired to be surrounded by his books even as he slept.