Dalí-Designed Bronze ‘Livre de l’Apocalypse’ Book Cover Stolen from French Museum

Yet another French museum has fallen victim to a brazen theft. A colossal, 330-pound book cover designed by Salvador Dalí, made of bronze and encrusted with precious stones, seashells and—this being Dalí—cutlery, was stolen overnight on Sunday from a small, private contemporary art museum in the town of Issoire, in central France, reports Le Monde.

The book is known as the Livre de l’Apocalypse, or in English, the Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse of St John. It was a collective art project made between 1958 and 1961, thanks to the initiative of French art publisher Joseph Forêt, in collaboration with 14 modern artists and writers he recruited. Other contributors included Jean Cocteau, Bernard Buffet, Léonard Foujita, Leonor Fini, Ossip Zadkine, and Jean Giono. On its cover, Dalí painted a small figure of Christ upon a golden plate. Pablo Picasso was also asked to contribute to the book, but according to Le Figaro, he said it was “either him or Dalí,” and Forêt chose the latter.

Luckily, all of the book’s 150 large interior pages, or parchments made from sheepskins, are in safe keeping and were not displayed with the ornate cover at the time of the theft. Pages included, the book weighs about 463 pounds, and when it was made, it held the title as the world’s heaviest and most expensive book in the world, then valued at 2 million francs, according to AFP, or about $343,000.

Police are investigating how the theft took place, but its owner, artist and art restorer Christian Karoutzos, told local media La Montagne that “they broke everything,” including a plexiglass display case protecting the book. He also said one of the large, gated doors surrounding the museum was broken. Karoutzos only learned of the theft on Monday morning, upon arrival at the museum, which he also uses as an art studio. “They assassinated France last night, they assassinated French heritage,” he told local radio France Info.

Local prosecutors said in a statement that the book was an “exceptional and unique” work, while local mayor Bertrand Barraud went further, calling the piece “the work of a lifetime,” whose value and loss are “inestimable.”

Karoutzos not only owns the book, but is also the founding owner of the small museum where it was meant to remain on exhibit until the end of October. On a whim, Karoutzos purchased the book in 2003 from Japanese owners who had intended to divide and sell it in separate pieces. He would not disclose the exact price he paid, but he told Le Figaro it cost several million euros and took a decade to pay in regular installments.

This is the latest of a string of thefts plaguing France and Europe more broadly, which have made headlines since thieves broke into the Louvre in October 2025 and were able to get away with much of the country’s remaining crown jewels. Just last month, robbers snatched four paintings by Renoir from another small museum, this time in the south of France. In response, the French government has vowed to reinforce security at cultural institutions around the country.