TOKYO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Britain's Oxford University and an unidentified Japanese school are battling over ownership of a stolen 16th century book by the pioneer of modern anatomy.
The Mainichi Daily News says the controversy centers on the 1552 edition of "De Humani Corporis Fabrica," by Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius.
The president of the Japanese school told Mainichi: "We are collecting the works of Vesalius and this book is an essential part of our collection. We purchased it by fair means and it is legally ours."
However, officials at Oxford's Christ Church college, the original owner of the book, believe the Japanese institution should return the book as a matter of "honor."
The book was one of 74 stolen from Christ Church between 1992 and 1995. Oxford eventually recovered all of them but one -- the 1552 edition of "De Humani Corporis Fabrica."
The book changed hands several times until it was sold to the private Japanese university for an undisclosed fee about eight years ago.
Oxford says it knows the book is in Japanese hands but has not learned the name of the medical university that purchased the book.
