Library book returned 150 years late after being found sealed behind fireplace

A remarkable piece of history has resurfaced in Kiama, Australia, with the return of a library book 150 years overdue. The volume, titled 'Antiquities of Athens' and published in 1858, was discovered behind a sealed fireplace during a home renovation by local resident Ross Simmons.

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We’ve never had anything that old come back to us.

Simmons found the book, marked with the number 506, in a crate. He surmises it was borrowed by his great-great-grandfather, John Simmons, who owned the house in the late 1800s. "I'm making an assumption," Simmons told The Associated Press, "he was in residence in the cottage around about that time, and his children were probably too young."

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I’m making an assumption, he was in residence in the cottage around about that time, [in the late 1800s] and his children were probably too young.

Michelle Hudson, manager of Kiama Library, expressed astonishment at the book's return. "We've never had anything that old come back to us," she said, noting that such old returns are rare, unlike items that are decades overdue. The library, which opened in 1872, suspects the book was lost shortly after its acquisition. Records from the 1870s are missing, preventing verification of the original borrower or the exact date it was taken out.

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Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There’s nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was.

Historical library rules stipulated that overdue debts must be settled before another book could be borrowed, and literacy was a requirement for borrowing. Simmons, however, is not concerned about late fees, as proof of literacy is no longer a requirement, and the historical rules are not being enforced for this unique case.

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Maybe that’s why they never returned it to us.