Австралийн Киама хотын номын санд 1858 онд хэвлэгдсэн “Antiquities of Athens” номыг саяхан олж, буцаан хүлээлгэн өгчээ.
Тус номыг орон нутгийн нэгэн иргэн байшингийнхаа засварын ажил хийх явцад хуучин задгай зуухны дотор тоосгоор өрж битүүмжилсэн цайны хайрцагнаас олсон байна. Номын сангийн эрхлэгч Мишель Хадсоны мэдээлснээр, тус номыг номын сан анх нээгдсэн 1872 оны үед зээлж аваад буцааж өгөлгүй алга болгосон байх магадлалтай ажээ.
Тухайн үеийн ном зээлдүүлэх журмын дагуу долоо хоног бүр гурван пеннигийн торгууль тооцдог байсныг инфляцитай уялдуулан тооцвол ном эзэмшигчийн төлөх ёстой торгууль 28,000 австрали доллар буюу 14,600 фунт стерлинг болохоор байна. Гэвч 1870-аад оны үеийн ном зээлэгчдийн бүртгэлийн дэвтэр алга болсон тул тухайн номыг хамгийн сүүлд зээлсэн этгээдийг тодруулах боломжгүй болжээ.
Номын сангийн зүгээс уг бүтээлийг цаашид олон нийтэд зээлүүлэхгүй байхаар шийдвэрлэж, орон нутгийн түүхийн үзмэрийн сандаа байршуулахаар болсон байна. 1870-аад оны үед номын сангаас ном зээлэхэд уншиж чаддаг байх шаардлага тавьдаг байсан бол согтууруулах ундаа хэрэглэсэн иргэдэд үйлчилдэггүй байсан зэрэг түүхэн дүрэм журам нь тухайн үеийн соёлын нэгээхэн хэсгийг илтгэж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A book has been returned to an Australian public library an estimated 150 years late after being found in a sealed fireplace during recent home renovations.
Antiquities of Athens, published in 1858, was returned to a library in the seaside town of Kiama last week after a local man discovered the text inside a tea crate, bricked into a disused fireplace.
“We’ve never had anything that old come back to us,” Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said.
“I follow lots of libraries on social media, and often you’ll get things that are maybe 30 or 40 years old when they’re cleaning out estates and stuff like that,” she added.
The late return fine would be about AU$28,000 (£14,600), allowing for inflation, Hudson said. That was calculated on the British three pence-a-week overdue fee that was printed on the inside cover of the book, along with a list of rules that applied when the library opened in 1872.
But Hudson said there was no way of tracing the final borrower, and thus the recipient of the colossal debt remains a mystery.
The library journal from the 1870s that recorded who borrowed a book and when had been lost.
“Unfortunately, we have a missing link. There’s nothing in the book that tells us who the last borrower was,” Hudson said.
Library rules in the 1870s said that a book had to be returned and an overdue debt paid before another book could be borrowed.
“Maybe that’s why they never returned it to us,” Hudson said.
Antiquated rules of the day included that up to three books could be borrowed by households in which at least six members were “known to be able to read.” Proof of reading ability is no longer required to use today’s library. In the 1870s, books were not lent to people who arrived at the library in a “state of intoxication.”
Library users are now asked to leave if their behaviour impacts others, but the rules are not specific about intoxication.
The book, which has some water damage from its years under a chimney, was marked as No. 506 in the library’s original collection of around 1,000 books, Hudson said.
She expects the book was lost within a few years of the library opening.
The returned book will be displayed in the library’s local history collection.
“We’re not going to allow it to go back out again. We don’t want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,” Hudson said.
