Ex Libris

The 'Ex Libris' episode of the 'Criminal' podcast delves into the peculiar case of John Gilkey, a notorious book thief whose criminal activities targeted rare book dealers across the Bay Area and beyond in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The episode begins with the story of John Creighton, owner of Brick Row Book Shop in San Francisco, who recounts how Gilkey used a stolen credit card to purchase a first edition of Thomas Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' for $2,500. Creighton's experience was not isolated; similar scams were perpetrated against numerous rare book dealers, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in rare books. The booksellers, frustrated and feeling outsmarted by the elusive thief, were determined to catch him.

Ken Sanders, a book dealer from Salt Lake City, was appointed as the security chair of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and took on the responsibility of tracking theft reports. Utilizing the then-nascent technology of email, Sanders began to notice patterns in the thefts and compiled a profile of the thief, who was believed to be operating out of Northern California. Despite the growing evidence, the stolen books were never resold, leading to a dead end in tracking Gilkey's activities.

The breakthrough came when Gilkey attempted to purchase a $7,500 first edition of 'The Grapes of Wrath' from Ken Lopez, a dealer in Massachusetts. Sanders and Lopez, along with retired detective Kenneth Munson, orchestrated a sting operation that led to Gilkey's arrest at a San Jose Hilton. Although he initially refused to identify himself, Gilkey's fingerprints linked him to a history of check fraud dating back to 1991.

After his arrest, a search of Gilkey's apartment on Treasure Island revealed a cache of stolen books. However, due to legal limitations, only books that could be specifically identified as stolen were recovered, leaving many others behind. Gilkey was eventually sentenced to three years in San Quentin but was released on parole after serving only 18 months.

Allison Hoover Bartlett, a writer who interviewed Gilkey, explored his motivations and revealed his desire to be seen as a respected gentleman through his collection of rare books. Despite the attention from Bartlett's book 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much,' Gilkey continued his criminal pursuits, expanding his methods to include writing bad checks for B&B stays and other small purchases.