Photo: zatletic/Depositphotos
Have you ever returned a library book late?
Perhaps by a day or two or maybe even a week?
How about 119 years?
Photo: zatletic/Depositphotos
The book was first spotted by Stewart Plein, curator of rare books at West Virginia University Libraries.
The librarian was sorting through a recent donation of books when she spotted the copy of Maxwell’s treatise.
So, it appeared to be a lost and very long overdue book.
Photo:Open Library/Internet Archive
Plein got in touch with Jodi Goodman, the special collections librarian in New Bedford.
While the library staff had seen overdue books returned 10 or 15 years later, this was something new.
This came back in extremely good condition, New Bedford Public Library Director Olivia Melo says.
Despite its antiquity, this copy is not regarded as a rare edition of the work.
If anything, its true value lies in the history it has witnessed since being borrowed.
The value of the printed book is its not digital, its not going to disappear.
It is still going to be here a hundred years from now.
The printed book is always going to be valuable.
