First-edition 'Leaves of Grass' stolen from Brevard College, recovered
A screenshot from eBay.com shows the listing for the stolen book. The first-edition copy of Whitman’s collection of poems has gone recently for between $100,000 and $300,000 at auction.
A first-edition printing of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” has been recovered after it was stolen from Brevard College’s James Addison Jones Library and listed for sale on eBay by a college employee, according to a spokesperson for Brevard College.
Barry Beddingfield, 43, of Hendersonville, has admitted to the crime and was arrested April 10 by the Brevard Police Department, according to a news press release.
The book was recovered after a search warrant was served on Beddingfield’s residence by the Henderson County Sherriff’s Office.
The 1855 first edition is one of 337 which were typeset by Whitman himself. The collection is full of some of the first-ever published poems of the great American writer and is estimated to be worth roughly $100,000-$300,000, according to previous auction results for the same printing of the book.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass called the 1855 first-edition the “holy book of American poetry” in an interview with PBS NewsHour in 2014. He said the book “sits right next to the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence as one of the most powerful documents of American culture.”
According to a spokesperson for Brevard College, the library staff were not aware the book was missing until it appeared on the eBay listing. The college could not provide any information at this time about when the book was obtained by the library or why its possession was not publicized.
The inscriptions in the book from the eBay listing match entries for Brevard College’s copy from a 2005 registry of all the first editions compiled by the University of Iowa.
The listing on eBay was posted April 5 by Beddingfield who used his real name in the username “bzbeddingfield.” The alleged thief set an auction starting price of $8,500 and a “Buy it Now” price of $22,000 for the book.
One anonymous bidder attempted to purchase the book for the $22,000 price, according to the eBay auction record.
Beddingfield has been charged with three counts: larceny by employee, obtain property by false pretense and possession of methamphetamine. He was processed at the Transylvania County Detention Center under a $5,000 bond. According to the release, other items were recovered which were also stolen from the school.
According to the Brevard College faculty directory, Beddingfield was an HVAC technician at the school.
