[CPProt.net] Finland: Writer Mika Waltari's "Egyptian" notebook stolen

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

www.helsinginsanomat.fi/english 


Writer Mika Waltari's "Egyptian" notebook stolen 
  
  
A red notebook belonging to the late Finnish writer Mika Waltari has been
stolen from the 60th Anniversary Exhibition of The Egyptian in the premises
of the Päivälehti Museum. The book contains some notes that Waltari had made
for his novel in 1942. The notebook belongs to the collections of the
Finnish Literature Society (SKS). 
      Two young men broke a locked glass cabinet at around 12.30 p.m. last
Saturday. Surveillance cameras recorded the incident in the Ludviginkatu
museum and in the street outside. 
      The thieves were males of average height. One of them wore a crew cut,
and the other had wavy, perhaps bleached hair. 
      The 10 x 15 cm notebook has the word "Muistikirja" (Notebook) printed
in gold on the front cover. 
      Potential information concerning the theft is to be given to the
Helsinki police on 09-189 4175. 
      In terms of cultural history, the value of the notebook is very high,
according to Anna Makkonen, who is in charge of the Literary Archives of the
Finnish Literature Society. 
      The notebook contains only a few written pages, and the most valuable
of them is the page with the heading "Horemheb". He was a military commander
and a pharaoh. 
      
The page contains catchwords including "various specialist doctors", "spa
treatments", "omens: a red lake". 
      "The information has been saved also in digital form, but as an object
the notebook is unique. Typically, Waltari kept all his notes in his head,
and there are hardly any written notes", says Makkonen. 
      
The theft was detected shortly after the incident, reports Director Pekka
Anttonen of the Päivälehti Archives Foundation. Even though two guides were
standing close to the glass cabinet as usually, the thieves managed to find
a dead moment and struck. 
      The security of the exhibition will be enhanced, and a significant
reward is being offered for any information leading to the solving of the
theft. 
      The Chairman of the Mika Waltari Society, Anssi Arohonka - an
antiquarian himself - believes that a collector could be behind the theft.
An antiquarian bookseller could ask as much as EUR 1,500 for the notebook,
he assumes. 
      According to Anssi Arohonka, there are about ten antiquarian
booksellers in Helsinki who might be interested in buying the notebook from
the thieves. 
      Owing to his vast production, Mika Waltari is the most collected
writer in Finland, says Arohonka. Even his original manuscripts or proofs
occasionally become available. 
      A printed booklet containing one of his early plays Hankala kosinta
(An Awkward Proposal) has changed hands for approximately EUR 1,000. Only
the original booklet edition of Aleksis Kivi's Seven Brothers has been worth
more. 
      The daily Finnish newspaper Päivälehti was founded in 1889, and it
later became Helsingin Sanomat.