In 1982 Henry Arthur Harrington (27) was brought before Banbury magistrates charged with stealing a book from a local secondhand bookshop. He asked for 1,321 other offences to be taken into account. When police had searched his flat they found exactly 1,321 copies of Axel Munthe's bestselling book, The Story of San Michele in different editions, impressions and formats, all in English. It was Harrington's own meticulous filing system which condemned him, as he had carefully noted the date, time and location of every theft. These notes revealed that over 12 years he had travelled extensively throughout the UK stealing every secondhand copy of the book he could find. Bookshops he had plundered (some on repeated occasions) included The Side Bookshop in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Reader's Rest in Lincoln and The Petersfield Bookshop.

Harrington offered no real explanation of his obsessive quest, saying only that he had read The Story of San Michele when he was 15 and had developed an intense interest in obtaining every secondhand copy he could find. He was ordered to see a psychiatrist from the local hospital.

Nothing else is known of Harrington's career since then. The Story of San Michele is still available in new and secondhand editions.