Libro de Tonos de Joseph Marín: the story behind a robbery and an illegal acquisition

This article traces the vicissitudes of the "Libro de Tonos de Joseph Marín" a manuscript of special relevance in the history of Spanish vocal music. The official account was that of a shrewd British Hispanist, JBT, who, almost by chance, stumbles upon a Spanish manuscript in a London antique shop and acquires it at a bargain price. The facts described here, however, tell a very different story: the manuscript was stolen from Biblioteca Nacional de España, and the aforementioned British Hispanist was perfectly aware of its illicit origin when he acquired it in London from the antiquarian booksellers Maggs Bros. The suspicions of a Spanish musicologist forced him to conceal it until his death, after which it became part of the collection of a British private museum where it remains to this day. The notable coincidences surrounding that acquisition, in light of the provided documentation, fit into a scenario in which the Hispanist was, furthermore, an active participant in a theft that would be laundered with the complicity of Maggs Bros., a firm with a history of opaque transactions ideal for laundering thefts through simulated purchases.