Audubon Heist--in Schenectady

$8-12 million book stolen in 1971

It’s 50 years since thieves broke a rear window on the ground floor to gain entry to Schaffer Library at Union College in Schenectady, NY. They headed to a locked case and smashed the quarter-inch thick glass with a hammer to retrieve the bounty on display for Commencement weekend: a single volume of naturalist John James Audubon’s stunning Birds of America.¹

Birds of America was printed between 1827 and 1838. It contains 435 life-size watercolors of North American birds reproduced from hand-engraved plates.²  A recent set was sold auction at $9.65 million.³

The theft at Union College is a byzantine story—

John Holmes Jenkins III, a prominent rare book dealer and publisher from Austin, Texas, alerted the FBI to a man he said had wandered into his shop weeks after the theft looking to sell pictures of birds discovered in an attic. To Jenkins, the prints sounded suspiciously like the ones he had seen in a notice about Union’s theft in the weekly Antiquarian Bookman.

Working with the FBI, Jenkins later met with the man at a Queens, N.Y., motel. Federal agents stormed the room. They eventually discovered the stolen Audubon prints, along with a number of rare books taken in a separate robbery in New York City, in the trunk of a 1970 gold Chevrolet Impala used by the suspect.⁴

Birds of America was returned. Union College gave Jenkins an honorary degree.

But that’s not all.

Jenkins, who had been refused membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABBA)  was seen as a hero for his part in saving the stolen Birds of America and eventually became ABBA president. He wrote a book,  Audubon and other capers: confessions of a Texas bookmaker. ⁵

But he also likely managed the heist.⁶ The life story of Jenkins, rare book dealer, forger, gambler, and misterioso⁷ is told in Bluffing Texas Style: The Arsons, Forgeries, and High-Stakes Poker Capers of Rare Book Dealer Johnny Jenkins⁸

The National Audubon Society⁹ has recently made John James Audubon’s  Birds of America available to the public in a downloadable digital library.

1. “The Audubon heist at 50: An irresistible mystery endures.” Union College News (June 28, 2021).

2. Fries, Waldemar H., & others.(1973). The Double Elephant Folio: The story of Audubon's Birds of America. Printing Department of the University of Chicago; John James Audubon's Birds of America. From the Audubon Society.

3. Barry, Rebecca Rego. (2018). A Rare Copy of Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’ Heads to Auction to Benefit Conservation. Audubon (June 12).

4. Ibid., “The Audubon Heist at 50.”

5. Jenkins, John Holmes. (1976). Audubon and other capers: confessions of a Texas bookmaker. Austin, Texas : The Pemberton Press.

6. O’Connell, Chris. (2020).“The Legend of John Holmes Jenkins.” Texas Monthly (March 1) 2020.

7. Shetler, Brian (2020). Review of Michael Vinson. Bluffing Texas Style: The Arsons, Forgeries, and High-Stakes Poker Capers of Rare Book Dealer Johnny Jenkins. RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Cultural Heritage, 22, no. 2.

8. Michael Vinson. (2020). Bluffing Texas Style: The Arsons, Forgeries, and High-Stakes Poker Capers of Rare Book Dealer Johnny Jenkins. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

9. John James Audubon's Birds of America. Digital Download. From the Audubon Society.