Library Book Is Back, Nearly 120 Years Late

Treatise on electricity is safely back in the hands of New Bedford library in Massachusetts
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 10, 2023 12:55 PM CDT
Library Book Is Back, More Than a Century Late
New Bedford Free Public Library Director Olivia Melo points to a stamp dating to 1882 when the New Bedford library system acquired the book.   (Peter Pereira/The Standard-Times via AP)

Stories about long-lost library books being returned years after the due date aren't so uncommon. But rarely does the gap exceed a century. The New York Times reports that the New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts has received one of its books last checked out in 1904 or 1905 (the stamp is a little hard to read). It seems somebody—and perhaps their ancestors—forgot to return An Elementary Treatise on Electricity by physicist James Clerk Maxwell, per NBC Boston. It finally turned up in a batch of books recently donated to West Virginia University, and a curator there noticed the ownership.

"This came back in extremely good condition," says New Bedford Public Library Director Olivia Melo, per the AP. "Someone obviously kept this on a nice bookshelf because it was in such good shape and probably got passed down in the family." The book came out in 1881. The library had a penny-a-day penalty for overdue books at the time it was checked out, meaning the fee would have been about $430, per the Times. (More library stories.)

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