Overdue Library Books Returned Over 119 Years Late From West Virginia To Massachusetts Libraries

A book on loan from the library in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was recently returned, more than 119 years after it was first checked out.

On Valentine’s Day, 1904, an unidentified individual robbed Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell’s First Treatise on Electricity, first published in 1881, from the New Bedford Free Public Library. There was no.

Centuries later, the book ended up in the collection of West Virginia University. There, the curator of rare books noticed that the book had not been marked as “recovered” even though it was past its due date.

This meant that the book, despite being late, still belonged to the New Bedford Library.

“This is new to me too. I said [them] I would be happy to pack it up and send it back, and I did,” curator Stewart Plain told WBOY-TV.

The book is still in good condition, and staff at the New Bedford Library were shown that the book had been kept as part of the family collection.

“It came back in very good condition. It was in very good condition and probably passed down to the family,” Olivia Melo, director of the new Bedford Free Public Library, told The Associated Press on Friday.