澳大利亚Kiama海滨小镇的公共图书馆近日收到一本1858年出版的《雅典古迹》，该书已逾期约150年[1][2]。这部编号506的图书在一位居民进行家庭翻新时被发现，当时它被装在茶箱中并砌入了一个密封的壁炉内[1][2]。书籍表面留有水渍损伤[1][2]。
根据1872年图书馆开放时的借阅规则计算，这本书的逾期费用约为28,000澳元（约19,500美元），按当时每周三便士的标准累计而成[1][2]。然而，由于1870年代的借阅记录已经遗失，图书馆无法追踪这本书的最后借阅者，也无法追究逾期费用[1]。图书馆经理Michelle Hudson表示："我们从未见过如此久远的图书被归还"[1][2]。
A copy of Antiquities of Athens published in 1858 has been returned to Kiama Library in the coastal town of Kiama, Australia, more than 150 years after it was borrowed.[1][2] The book was discovered during a home renovation when a resident found it sealed inside a tea box that had been bricked into a fireplace.[1][2] The volume, catalogued as No. 506, bears water damage from its unusual hiding place.[1][2]
The library, which opened in 1872 with approximately 1,000 books in its original collection, has been unable to trace the last borrower.[1][2] Library manager Michelle Hudson remarked, "We've never had anything that old come back to us."[1][2] Based on the library's lending rules from the 1870s—which charged threepence per week in overdue fees—the accumulated charges would total approximately A$28,000 (US$19,500).[1][2] However, the library cannot pursue restitution as the borrowing records from that era have been lost.[1]