In Sidereus Nuncius, astronomer Galileo Galilei describes discoveries he made after building his famous telescope in 1609, including that Jupiter has four moons and that the moon has a mountain landscape.
The work was stolen from the Spanish National Library in 2014, but was not reported stolen until four years and four months later, despite the technical department knowing that Sidereus Nuncius had been replaced with a copy in 2014. The copy left by the thief was listed as the original in the library's catalog.
Has been stolen before
The work has been stolen before.
El País writes that it, along with a hundred other books, disappeared in 1987, but was found two years later by the police.
According to Ana Santos, library manager, she had not been informed of the theft.
In 2018, she received an email from a British researcher who pointed out that it could be a copy.
According to her, the technical department wrote a report that the plant had been stolen, but it did not reach the management - something that previous staff contradicts.
Known thief had access to the book
The theft has led many to question the library's security, especially as it was discovered that one of the people who had access to the work had stolen other valuable objects from the library in 2007.
The book has not yet been found, writes The Guardian.