The Book Thief

“Otto Funk, kleptomaniac, “crank, and dynamitard,” in the words of the Chicago Tribune, was for the year 1885 undoubtedly the best-known graduate of the University of Chicago—the Old University of Chicago, that is, founded in 1857 at Cottage Grove Avenue and 35th Street and forerunner of the current institution. Three years after his graduation in 1882, more than 2,000 books stolen from the Chicago Public Library were discovered—some 100 in Funk’s apartment in the Prairie Avenue neighborhood and the rest in a relative’s barn in Bridgeport. The city’s chief librarian claimed that it was the largest embezzlement of its kind in US history.”

We don’t condone book-stealing, but we have a soft spot for this alum, who’s passion for books led to some illicit acquisitions. Read more here.