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Filippo Bernardini is accused of stealing manuscripts. For money or just a good read?The theft of books occupies a complex place in our moral judgment, depending on motive. In Markus Zusak’s 2005 novel The Book Thief, the actions of the title character are heroic – she steals books to save them from destruction. During the 2011 London riots, it was frequently observed, with a hint of reproach, that the looters pointedly left bookshops untouched and this deliberate spurning was seen as further indictment of the mob’s character, as if we’d have thought better of the rioters if they had heaved a bollard through the window of Waterstones and made off with the latest Jeanette Winterson.In the run-up to publication of the final Harry Potter novel in 2007, the publisher laid on extra security at the printworks after it was claimed that tabloid reporters were hanging about offering cash bribes to any worker willing to slip them a sneak preview. In this instance, the opprobrium was not because such a theft might have deprived the publisher and author of income, but because only a sociopath would deliberately ruin the ending for millions of children. Continue reading...