In France, stole one of the most expensive books in the world weighing 210 kg
The 210kg book was stolen from the Centre for Contemporary Art in Issoire. Its bronze cover, created by Salvador Dali, accounts for about 150 kg, the cost of the work is now estimated at several million euros
In France, the book “Apocalypse” by Joseph Foret, which when created in 1958 was estimated at 2 million francs and called the most expensive book in the world, was stolen. This is reported by TF1 with reference to the prosecutor's office of Clermont-Ferrand.
The 210kg book was stolen on the night of October 4-5 from the Centre for Contemporary Art in Issoir, Puy de Dom. The prosecutor's office opened an investigation and entrusted it to the Clermont-Ferrand gendarmerie section.
The Apocalypse is based on the Revelation of John the Theologian. 14 artists and writers of the XX century worked on the work, among them Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Jean Junot and Emil Choran.
The book has a bronze cover weighing about 150 kg, decorated with precious stones and made by Dali. In its expanded form, it reaches 150 m in length and includes 150 large parchments, on which the authors wrote by hand. The design also uses about 95 thousand calligraphically written letters.
In 2003, the work was acquired by a French collector of Greek origin, Christian Karutzos. He bought it from owners in Japan to prevent the book from being sold at auction. Now its cost is estimated at several million euros.
From 1961 to 1972, Apocalypse was exhibited at 146 exhibitions around the world. 25 craft workshops worked on its creation.
In September, four paintings were stolen from the museum of the artist Pierre Auguste Renoir in Caignes-sur-Mer in southeastern France. The criminals removed from the walls of the canvas “Portrait of Madame Colonne Romano”, “Young woman at the well”, “Portrait of Madame Stefan Pichon” and “Coco reading”. The last two paintings were later abandoned in the museum garden during the escape. Two other paintings are considered missing.
Two unknown people entered the museum in the early hours of September 8. They cut the canvases from the frames and fled before the police arrived. The alarm worked shortly before 6:00 local time (7:00 GMT), after which law enforcement agencies received a report of the incident.
The town hall of Caignes-sur-Mer said the value of the stolen works was estimated at €9 million.
