Have you seen these Muggles?

A rare copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was reportedly stolen on Monday from its temporary home, the “Art You Grew Up With Exhibition” in Oxfordshire, England.

Reportedly the gallery assistant was distracted while a man stole the edition, worth over $9,500, while a woman was his lookout. It is not believed the employee was intentionally distracted instead “the offenders” saw an opportune moment and “took advantage of the gallery assistant being occupied by a group of people.”

The theft occurs on the heels of the latest and last installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows also premiering Monday.

Adrian Greenwood, owner of the copy, is reportedly “devastated” believing “the rare edition—one of just 400[…]—has already surfaced on the London black (book) market.” Greenwood owns four other rare copies of the Harry Potter series.

However, others believe the thieves will have a hard time selling it since the book has been properly documented and therefore identifiable.

Not many book thieves may realize the efforts involved in recovering lost literature. Websites like http://www.stolen-book.org/ keeps an extensive database of books of value stolen from its owners. It already has listed the missing copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as well as several other stolen books in the Harry Potter series missing since January 2004.

Recently successfully nabbed book thief Raymond Scott—nicknamed the “Folio Thief”—was sentenced to eight years for stealing a “first folio edition of William Shakespeare’s works from Durham University in 1998”. Scott was said to have “mutilated” the goat binding and to have “cut the cords on the spine” rendering him a sociopath among the literary community.

However, the most celebrated catch has been the notorious “Tome raider”—William Jacques—serial book thief extraordinaire sentenced to three-and-a-half years for stealing an estimated $63,000 worth of rare books.

“Cambridge-educated with an understanding of antiquarian books, Jacques stealing distinguished works of literature by plundering the collection at his old university library. Between October 1996 and May 1999, he stole about 500 extremely rare books and pamphlets from Cambridge, the British Library and London Library…”

It is not clear whether the nabbers of the famous boy wizard novel will be given kitschy nicknames, but their short-term notoriety on the literary community's "most wanted" list will lead to their capture soon enough.

Franco Needs a Higher Stick to Measure By

There once was a time when literary figures ruled the world. A trip back into the Victorian era, a visit from Charles Dickens to America closely resembled the chaos that accompanied The Beatles arrival to New York City and the commencement of the British Invasion.

So, with the recent publication of James Franco’s newest artistic venture, Palo Alto,--meaning "high stick"--named after Franco’s hometown of Palo Alto, Ca and home to his characters growing up in the suburbs in the 1990’s, literary review journals are all in a flutter to review the fruits of his labor.

James Franco may have cheated a little, already having been famous before his literary disposition came to light, but unlike other celebrity-turned-authors, this is not a book ghost-written by someone else with actual writing skill.

In the same vein as J.D. Salinger’s photograph featured in the original 1951 publication of The Catcher in the Rye, Franco’s book jacket’s black-and-white portrait features a clean-shaven Franco looking away from the camera lens.

In keeping in tone with Salinger, Franco’s debut of short stories is characterized with teenage angst, and restlessness. So will it become a classic among the disillusioned youth? Probably not.

Salon’s Louis Bayard says essentially says in his review—“Can James Franco write? Yes but…”—“Yes he can…[but] narrator after narrator speaks in the same clipped, bruised tone, and you don't even notice when a girl takes up the story thread because her diction is no different from the boy who preceded her. The only thing that gathers, finally, is a pool of self-pity.”

Franco’s prior celebrity status appears to have crippled what may have been a better-rounded series of short fiction in an effort to rush it into print earlier—an unlikely opportunity for most beginning their literary career, but Franco has no doubt revived attention that once hounded “literary stars”. So, could Franco be the one to usher in a new wave of young, hip literary celebrities?

Probably not, but with more revision perhaps he can earn a place in the hearts of the disenchanted youths of the suburbs.