July 31 (UPI) — An Australian library received an unusual return when a book checked out about 150 years ago was found bricked into the fireplace of a home.
The Kiama Library in New South Wales said on social media that a family returned the book during the weekend after a home renovation projected led to it being discovered in a tea desk that had been bricked into the house’s fireplace.
The book, The Antiquities of Athens, was published in 1858 and dates back to when the Kiama Public Library was housed at the old Kiama School of Arts, between 1872 and 1890. The exact date the book was borrowed has been lost to time, but officials estimate it was likely about 150 years ago.
The library said the tome would have accrued late fees of nearly $20,000 under the bylaws at the time it was borrowed, but the library has since done away with all overdue fines.
The book, said to be in “remarkably good condition,” will not be placed back into circulation, but will instead be displayed in the library’s collection of significant items.