This study presents the results of the search for Leo Baeck’s private library that was looted by the Nazis in 1943. It shows that the current state of research is failing to provide methods to conduct this search, and demonstrates how to overcome this lack by adopting a bibliometric approach to provenance research. To allow a title-based search for the books once owned by Leo Baeck, the catalog of the lost collection is reconstructed. While the study addresses mainly the methodology of searching for looted books, it also demonstrates how the instruments designed to help locating and identifying the looted books can be used to describe the lost collection. Based on the reconstructed catalog the collection is described and the role of usage frequency for a private collector is discussed. Furthermore, the ownership marks found inside the resurfaced items are used to map the dispersion of Baeck’s books following their theft
