Bookplate of a CIA Bibliophile-

The bookplate of newspaper publisher James Strohn Copley [1916-1973]. Copley published the San Diego Union, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and the San Diego Evening Tribune, and was President of the Inter American Press Association. He also, according to Carl Bernstein, cooperated closely with the CIA during the Eisenhower through Nixon administrations. According to Bernstein-

“at least twenty‑three Copley News Service employees performed work for the CIA. ‘The Agency’s involvement with the Copley organization is so extensive that it’s almost impossible to sort out,’ said a CIA official who was asked about the relationship late in 1976. Other Agency officials said then that James S. Copley, the chain’s owner until his death in 1973, personally made most of the cover arrangements with the CIA., which had widespread contacts in the US media.”

The University of San Diego has a library named in honor of Copley and his wife.