A book on Greek antiquities has been returned to an Australian public library approximately 150 years overdue, discovered water-damaged after being bricked into a fireplace for decades. The volume, titled "Antiquities of Athens" and published in 1858, was returned to the Kiama Library last week by local resident Ross Simmons.
Simmons found the book during recent home renovations, concealed within a tea crate that had been sealed into a fireplace. "We’ve never had anything that old come back to us," said Michelle Hudson, the Kiama Library manager. "I follow lots of libraries on social media and often you’ll get things that are maybe 30 or 40 years old when they’re cleaning out estates and stuff like that."
Ross Simmons believes the book may have been borrowed by his great-great-grandfather, John Simmons, who owned the house where it was found around the time the library opened in 1872. The book, marked as No. 506 in the library's original collection of about 1,000 books, is suspected to have been lost within a few years of the library's establishment.
If current fine calculations were applied based on the book's original British three pence-a-week overdue fee, adjusted for inflation, the potential penalty could amount to approximately 28,000 Australian dollars, or about $19,500. Hudson noted that the library's borrower records from the 1870s are no longer available, making it impossible to identify the last person who checked out the book.
Original library rules from the 1870s stipulated that overdue debts must be settled before another book could be borrowed. Other antiquated regulations prohibited lending books to individuals in a "state of intoxication" and required households to have at least six members who could read to borrow up to three books. Today's library users are not required to prove literacy and are only asked to leave if their behavior disrupts others.
Ross Simmons, 77, expressed no concern about potential liability for the historical debt, stating, "I’ve spent a lifetime dealing with irate customers and being irate with customers himself. Just stick to your guns and say do your worst."
The returned copy of "Antiquities of Athens" will be housed in the library's local history collection and will not be available for circulation to prevent another extended loan period.