The recovery process began in January 2025 when an unnamed individual attempted to sell the books to two rare book dealers, B&B Rare Books and Adam Weinberger Rare Books. The dealers reported the sale attempt to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after discovering the books were listed on the Art Loss Register, leading to their seizure pursuant to search warrants. A New York Supreme Court judge then authorized the books to be turned over to the heirs of John Hay Whitney and his wife, Betsey Whitney. At least 28 of the books were stolen from Whitney's Long Island estate between 1982 and 1989, and police were contacted at the time.
The collection includes the Keats letters, dated between 1819 and 1820, held in a gilt morocco-bound portfolio and valued at approximately $2 million. Other items include a copy of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake from 1939, four letters by Oscar Wilde not included in De Profundis, and a copy of White Stains by Aleister Crowley from 1898. The books are collectively valued at nearly $3 million, and Whitney's heirs have said they will be sold with proceeds donated. John Hay Whitney served as US ambassador to the UK from 1957 to 1961 and was the publisher of the New York Herald Tribune.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that Manhattan is a cultural capital but its marketplace integrity is undermined by stolen items, and his office will not allow the borough to be a center for trafficked art and antiquities. The identity of the individual who attempted to sell the books and how they resurfaced in Manhattan have not been disclosed.