Filippo Bernardini (left) who stole master manuscripts from famous authors Margaret Atwood(Top-right), and Ian McEwan (Bottom-Right). Source: AFP/Twitter
New York: An Italian origin man, who is facing trials for allegedly stealing manuscripts of books by Margaret Atwood, Sally Rooney and Ian McEwan, has said in court that he wanted to “cherish” the books before anyone else.
Additionally, he claimed to have a “burning desire” to feel like a publishing professional while clarifying he had no intention of leaking the books he stole.
According to his attorney, the accused Filippo Bernardini grew up in a conservative area of Italy as a bullied, lonely, and gay child who found solace in reading.
She claimed that because of “his wish to feel like an industry insider,” he had “suffered professional and reputational ruin” and that being “effectively banned from the publication industry” was “particularly painful” for him.
At the tine of his arrest from New York in January, 2022, Filippo admitted culpability to one count of wire fraud involving the theft of more than 1,000 manuscripts.
Simon & Schuster, which has not been connected to any of Bernardini’s crimes, hired him to work as a rights supervisor in their London office.
He, reportedly, used email to assume the identities of agents and publishers in order to buy books and other works from authors and their agents.
According to The Bookseller, in court papers published last week Bernardini said he never leaked the manuscripts he acquired, but “wanted to keep them closely to my chest and be one of the fewest to cherish them before anyone else, before they end up in bookshops”.
In his statement, he felt a “special and unique connection with the author, almost like I was the editor of that work” when reading some of the manuscripts.
Bernardini explained how he came up with his plan to acquire manuscripts, claiming that he saw them being shared “between editors, managers, literary scouts, or even with people outside the industry” and questioned why he was unable to do the same.
Bernardini sent emails from fake accounts beginning in August 2016 and continuing until his arrest in New York in January 2022, posing as hundreds of individuals in the publishing industry.
“One day, I made a fake email account for someone I knew in the publishing business, and I sent an email to someone else I knew, asking for a pre-publication manuscript,” Bernardini claimed in his statement.
“I used the same language and writing style as my old colleagues. After that my wish was granted and this behaviour developed into an obsession and a compulsive behaviour,” he said.
In his letter, Bernardini admitted that his actions were “egregious, stupid, and wrong” and that he would always be linked with them.
Bernardini is set to be sentenced on April 5.
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