A 150-year-overdue book resurfaces in an Australian library, found bricked in a fireplace
Summary
A book called "Antiquities of Athens," published in 1858, was returned to a public library in Kiama, Australia, about 150 years late. The book was found bricked inside a sealed fireplace during home renovations and brought back to the library, which cannot trace who borrowed it last.Key Facts
- The book was returned to Kiama Library in Australia after an estimated 150 years.
- It was found inside a tea crate sealed in a fireplace during home renovations.
- The book "Antiquities of Athens" was published in 1858.
- The library opened in 1872 and originally had around 1,000 books.
- The overdue fine, if calculated today, would be about 28,000 Australian dollars ($19,500).
- The library lost the records that tracked who borrowed books in the 1870s.
- Rules in the 1870s included limits on borrowing linked to household literacy and forbidding book lending to intoxicated people.
- The returned book will be kept in the library’s local history collection and will not be loaned again.
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