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Alois Pichler

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Alois Pichler (1833-1874)
Hot on the heels of Count Libri’s crimes, Alois Pichler stole thousands of books from the Imperial Library in St. Petersburg, Russia from 1869-1871. Born in Germany and trained as a theologian, Pichler took a job as librarian at the Imperial Library due to his familiarity with texts from the Eastern Orthodox religious tradition. Soon after taking on this role, he began stealing all manner of books from the library by stowing them in his overcoats. The thefts inevitably raised suspicion. Many measures were taken to catch the culprit, such as requiring all entrants to remove their overcoats. However, Pichler avoided these obstacles by stowing books in other articles of his clothing, such as his galoshes. Pichler was only caught when, under direct suspicion of the chief librarian, a security guard patted him down and detected several hidden volumes. Further inspection of Pichler’s home revealed nearly 4,500 stolen books, making Pichler’s crime the largest recorded theft from a European institution.

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Hot on the heels of Count Libri’s crimes, Alois Pichler stole thousands of books from the Imperial Library in St. Petersburg, Russia from 1869-1871. Born in Germany and trained as a theologian, Pichler took a job as librarian at the Imperial Library due to his familiarity with texts from the Eastern Orthodox religious tradition. Soon after taking on this role, he began stealing all manner of books from the library by stowing them in his overcoats. The thefts inevitably raised suspicion. Many measures were taken to catch the culprit, such as requiring all entrants to remove their overcoats. However, Pichler avoided these obstacles by stowing books in other articles of his clothing, such as his galoshes. Pichler was only caught when, under direct suspicion of the chief librarian, a security guard patted him down and detected several hidden volumes. Further inspection of Pichler’s home revealed nearly 4,500 stolen books, making Pichler’s crime the largest recorded theft from a European institution.

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“Alois Pichler,” Creighton University Libraries: Archives & Special Collections, accessed January 16, 2025, https://creightonarchives.omeka.net/items/show/201.

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