Arabic version: تمت إعادة رسائل الحب المسروقة لكيتس إلى عائلته بعد عقود
Eight original handwritten letters from Romantic poet John Keats to Fanny Brawne have been returned to the family of former US ambassador John Hay “Jock” Whitney after being stolen from Whitney’s home in the 1980s. The letters, dated between 1819 and 1820, were valued at approximately $2 million and were discovered among rare books in Manhattan earlier this year.
According to The Guardian, the portfolio containing the letters was found in January 2025 when an unnamed individual attempted to sell it to rare book dealers. The dealers recognized the items from the Art Loss Register and reported the attempted sale to the Manhattan district attorney.
The letters include Keats’s first correspondence with Brawne, who inspired much of his work. Their romance was marked by deep affection and tragedy, as Keats died from tuberculosis in February 1821 at the age of 25. Brawne, who became his fiancée, bequeathed the letters to her children, who later sold them at auction in 1885.
The return of the letters was authorized by a New York supreme court judge, and Whitney’s heirs plan to sell the books and donate the proceeds. This incident highlights the ongoing efforts by Manhattan’s antiquities trafficking unit to recover stolen cultural treasures, a mission that has seen the recovery of over 6,200 items valued at more than $485 million.
