The book was handed back to the library in the seaside town of Kiama last week by local resident Ross Simmons, who discovered it during recent renovations inside a tea crate that had been bricked into a closed fireplace, according to Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson.
“We’ve never had anything that old come back to us,” Hudson remarked on Thursday.
“I follow numerous libraries on social media and often see items that are maybe 30 or 40 years overdue when people are clearing out estates and similar,” she added.
Ross Simmons told The Associated Press on Friday that he believed the book was borrowed by his great-great-grandfather John Simmons, who once owned the house where it was discovered.
“I’m making an assumption. He was living in the cottage around that time, and his children were likely too young,” Ross Simmons explained.
The library was established in 1872, and the book, Antiquities of Athens, published in 1858, was listed as No. 506 in the library’s original collection of about 1,000 books. Hudson suspects the book was misplaced within a few years of the library’s opening.
The overdue fine would be approximately 28,000 Australian dollars ($19,500), adjusted for inflation, Hudson stated. The amount was calculated based on the British three-pence-per-week fine printed on the book’s inside cover, along with a list of rules from the library’s inception.
However, Hudson mentioned that records of borrowers from the 1870s had been lost.
“Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There’s nothing in the book that indicates who the last borrower was,” she explained.
Library regulations in the 1870s required borrowers to return a book and pay any overdue fines before borrowing another.
“Maybe that’s why it was never returned to us,” Hudson speculated.
Rules from that era included that a household with at least six members “known to be able to read” could borrow up to three books. Proof of reading ability is no longer necessary to use today’s library.
In the 1870s, individuals arriving at the library in a “state of intoxication” were not permitted to borrow books. Today, library patrons may be asked to leave if their behavior disrupts others, although the rules do not specifically address intoxication.
Ross Simmons expressed uncertainty about why his English immigrant ancestor, who also served as an alderman in Kiama’s municipal government, didn’t return the book.
He mentioned he wasn’t concerned about being held accountable by an upset librarian for his family’s debt.
“I’ve spent a lifetime dealing with irate customers and being irate with customers myself. Just stick to your guns and say do your worst,” the 77-year-old stated.
The returned book will be showcased in the library’s local history collection.
“We’re not going to let it go back out again. We don’t want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,” Hudson concluded.
