Rare 415-year-old Wytfliet Atlas stolen from the Royal Library of Sweden recovered at NYC gallery

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Royal Library’s map librarian, Greger Bergvall, holds the Wytfliet Atlas. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer. By: Ula Ilnytzky, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP).- A rare atlas stolen a decade ago from the Royal Library of Sweden by one of its chief librarians was recovered in New York and given back to its rightful owner. Swedish and U.S. authorities showed off the 415-year-old Wytfliet Atlas at a news conference Wednesday. The book, created by Cornelius van Wytfliet and containing the earliest maps of the Americas, had been in the Royal Library collection for more than 300 years before it was stolen. There are only eight other copies worldwide, according to the library. The atlas was one of 56 rare books stolen by Anders Burius, the chief of the Royal Library's manuscript department, and the first of his haul to be located. Burius stole the books between 1995 and 2004, nearly the entire time of his employment there, and later committed suicide, said Steven ... More