SERIOUSLY OVERDUE
Some very late returns to Britain’s libraries –313 years in one case – but at least the fines were capped
Salisbury Library got the book Bullies Don’t Hurt by Anthony Masters back 18 years after it was taken out in 2003; it had been posted anonymously from Quebec in Canada. A note was included saying, “I deeply apologise for having stolen this book.” Library manager, the appropriately named Philip Tomes, said there was no way of knowing who had borrowed it because “it’s such a long time ago, the book has gone off the system”. If the library didn’t cap fines at £7, it would have built up £1,400 worth, but Tomes said to the unknown borrower: “You are absolutely forgiven and thank you for going to such lengths to return your book.” Western Daily Press, 29 Sept 2021.
University College London doesn’t cap its library fines, so there is still £1,254 outstanding on the copy of the Latin drama Querolus borrowed in 1974 and recently returned 48 years later. It came with a note enclosed saying “Please don’t just throw it out, now I’ve taken the time and trouble to return it.” Librarian Suzanne Traue said: “I think my jaw may literally have dropped when I read it.” D.Express, 1 Apr 2022.
When Gainsborough Library in Ipswich loaned out their copy of The Loving Couple by Virginia Rowans, they expected it to be returned by 30 July 1958, but it didn’t in fact come back for another 64 years, having found its way to Croatia in the meantime. It was discovered in an anonymous donation to a library in Dubrovnik, where staff discovered it was from Gainsborough Library and posted it back. Kim Risby, of Gainsborough Library, said that the book is still in good enough condition to be borrowed again and added, “It was a really lovely gesture from colleagues in Croatia. I am used to books being overdue, but nothing as long as this.” D.Mail, 16 May 2022.
Rummaging through her house during the Covid lockdown, Jill Davies found a book called, appropriately enough, Forgotten Submarine. It was a Portsmouth Library book that she had found lying by the side of the road in 1957. She had intended to read the book, then return it to the library, but had never got round to it and it ended up forgotten among her large book collection, staying there through several house moves before its eventual rediscovery. Having turned it up once more, Davies did return it to the library, 65 years late. Were Portsmouth library fines still in force, Forgotten Submarine would have racked up £3,796, but Councillor Ben Dowling, responsible for culture, said: “I am delighted Jill has got in contact with us to return the book, and I hope this story inspires others to rediscover their library and not be afraid of any previous fines.” The News (Portsmouth) 8 Mar 2022.
Stately Timber by Rupert Hughes made its way back to the Central Library in Dunfermline, Scotland, 73 years after it was originally borrowed on 6 November 1948. It had been sent back by the
original borrower’s daughter, who accompanied it with a letter saying that her late father had borrowed it when he was 20 years old, and she did not know whether he had simply forgotten to return it or chose to keep it. Christine McLean, Fife cultural heritage manager said, “We are thrilled to have received it… and we look forward to finding a special place to display the book – and the story of its journey – in our local studies section.” D.Mail, 18
Nov 2021.
Comfortably beating the world record for the most overdue library book was a 1704 copy of The Faith and Practice of the Church of England, returned 313 years late. A handwritten inscription in the front read “This Book belongs to ye Lending Library in Sheffield Church 1709”. It came back to the library after its owner stipulated that it be returned in her will. Reverend Canon Keith Farrow of Sheffield Cathedral said: “This little book left the library just over 300 years ago. Now it’s come back home, it’s a joy to have this little jewel back in the cathedral.” Sheffield council has scrapped fines for late books, but Farrow estimated that, in theory, the late fine could have been £54,000 and added: “We might have got a new roof or something, but I did promise I wouldn’t charge them.”
The previous record for a late return was 288 years, for a book belonging to Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, borrowed in 1688. This was Scriptores rerum Germanicarum septentrionalium, vicinorumque populorum diversi (“Various historians of the Northern Germans and of neighbouring peoples”) borrowed by Colonel Robert Walpole, father of Sir Robert Walpole, regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. It had been discovered among papers at the Walpole ancestral home, Houghton Hall, in Norfolk, and was returned in 1956 by Walpole’s descendant, the 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley. Sun, 24 Mar 2022.