In a case that has attracted worldwide attention and raised the eyebrows of librarians everywhere, Edward Forbes Smiley III, 49, pleaded not guilty on August 8 in New Haven Superior Court to larceny charges lodged against him. Smiley was arrested June 8 for allegedly stealing several hundred thousand dollars worth of antique maps from Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The case has curators and library officials around the country scouring their collections of Sixteenth through Nineteenth Century books and atlases in search of maps that have been cut from the volumes. They are keeping an especially keen eye out for several unclaimed maps that were in Smiley’s possession when arrested.

Smiley is a former Manhattan map dealer who currently lists a Martha’s Vineyard address, and who has a website that lists him as having operated offices for the past 25 years at “16 East 79th Street, New York, galleries at 175 East 57th Street, New York, and a private business on Martha’s Vineyard.”

Libraries that have reportedly confirmed losses include the Boston Public Library, as well as libraries reportedly in Chicago, New York City and even The British Library in London. Ruth Kowal, chief operating officer of Boston Public Library, confirmed that a police investigation involving stolen maps from the library’s archives is currently underway. Kowal declined to comment further on the map thefts.

Smiley’s initial arrest for larceny in the first degree came when a staff member at the Beinecke facility found an “Exacto knife blade” on the floor of the reading room. Suspecting that the person that had dropped it might still be in the library, a search revealed a man “looking at books containing rare maps” who was later identified as Smiley, according to the arrest warrant.

After further checking with the Sterling Memorial Library, also on the campus of Yale, it was confirmed that Smiley was a suspect in a missing document case there, yet charges were never pressed due to a lack of evidence.

Yale police conducted video surveillance, and when Smiley left the library, he was followed and arrested at the Yale Center for the British Arts. A search of Smiley’s personal property revealed seven rare maps worth more than $700,000. They were reportedly discovered in Smiley’s briefcase, three of which were identified by library personnel as possibly having been stolen from the library.

Among the recovered maps was a 1614 map that had been removed from the book Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England or Anywhere by Captain John Smith, founder of Jamestown, valued at $50,000. Smiley reportedly pulled this map from the inside pocket of his blazer when questioned by authorities.

Among the other maps recovered was a “Septentrio vniuersalis descripto” authored by Richard Hakluyt, 1552-1616, that had a comparable value of $500,000 placed on it, according to the affidavit used to obtain the arrest warrant. Smiley had also signed out the book North West Passage by Foxe Luke, 1586-1635, which was found to be missing the map “Part of America part of China.” A map of the same title was one of the maps discovered in Smiley’s briefcase.

Smiley was formally charged in late June with two additional larceny charges. The FBI became involved in the investigation amidst concerns that Smiley may have targeted other libraries throughout the region.

“It is truly a shame to see this occur, but not surprising,” stated Dana Linett, president of Early American History Auctions, Inc, a Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., company that deals in historical documents, maps, books and currency. “There simply needs to be less trust and more verification. There is probably much more missing, or replaced with fakes, within these libraries and institutions than they know about.”

Linett commented that he expects to see people continue to have access to these materials, “but it should be stricter than it currently is. Libraries and institutions need to increase their surveillance and security of these highly valuable items. They aren’t really knowledgeable about their value, because that is not their forte; they are just knowledgeable about the rarity,” he said. “Somehow they must be much more surveillant than they currently are, while still granting access.”

Smiley’s website states that during his 25 years in business that he has “built several of the largest collections of American cartographic materials in this country, including the Norman Leventhal collection of New England maps and the Lawrence H. Slaughter collection of English maps and atlases – now at the New York Public Library.”

Smiley is free after posting bail on July 8, which was set at $175,000. After pleading not guilty in Superior Court, the case was continued until October 3.