"John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote:

wrote:

What is the difference between removing library stamp and
proof of ownership ?

Alice is saying that maybe the the book had been stolen from the library
and the library stamp was removed to hide that fact.

If part of the title page has been cut out, I don't see how you can know
what may once have been on that section (unless it was printed text).
Are you just guessing that it may have been a library stamp? If so, it's
a reasonable guess, but surely it is just as likely to have been a
signature by a previous owner?

But perhaps you have more to go on and can identify the actual library
(perhaps because there are other stamps elsewhere in the book)? If so,
then it might be worth contacting the library to see whether the book
has indeed been properly deaccessioned.

Gee, should we be doing that with all our books? What about books
bought at a library sale? The library itself may not have concretely
established ownership, so this gets difficult.