The manuscript of the Prophecies of Nostradamus, stolen from a library in Rome, the capital of Italy, came to light when it was put up for auction in Germany.
The Latin “Profetie di Michele Nostradamo” manuscript containing the prophecies of the French astrologer Michel de Nostredame, known as Nostradamus, has been missing for at least 15 years.
Although the exact date of the stolen book from the Barnabiti Historical Research Center Library in Rome is not known, it is stated that it has been missing since 2007.
It was determined that the 16th-century manuscript of approximately 500 pages was stolen and taken to France, where it arrived in Germany after being sold at a flea market.
After an auction house in Stuttgart, Germany, put the book up for auction last year, Italy’s cultural heritage preservation teams tracked down the work.
A stamp on the book was seen in one of the photos published on the auction house’s website. This stamp was included in the Library of the Barnabiti Center for Historical Studies in 1991. It belonged to the Library of Blasi Cairoli del Urbe.
Upon this finding, the Cultural Heritage Conservation Command of the Italian Carabinieri forces contacted the German authorities and requested the return of the artifact. The sale of the book, which was put up for auction with an opening price of 12 thousand euro, was stopped.
When the examinations in Germany confirmed that the book in question was a manuscript stolen from Italy, the return proceedings began.
The Nostradamus manuscript was finally delivered to the library in Rome last Thursday.
The Command of the Cultural Heritage Conservation Command, which has been operating in Italy since 1969, explains its purpose as “fight against the evacuation of Italy, the world’s largest museum”.