On Feb. 14, 1904, someone curious about the emerging possibilities of a key force of nature checked out James Clerk Maxwell's “An Elementary Treatise on Electricity” from a Massachusetts library. After 119 years, the book was finally returned. https://t.co/VdsAMMh9CF
— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) July 8, 2023
British scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) really knew how to write a work of compelling scientific exposition. His book An Elementary Treatise on Electricity (available in full text on Google Books) can't stay on the shelves of the New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts. After being checked out 119 years ago, it was just returned to that library.
A rare books librarian at another library found it among donations and noticed that there were no indications that the library-marked book had been formally withdrawn from the collection (such as the word WITHDRAWN ink-stamped on the title page). He sent it off to the New Bedford Free Library.
That library charges 5 cents a day for overdue materials. Thus the total fine should be about $2,100. But the library caps fines at $2 and the responsible patron is unknown, so the library is unlikely to recover either amount.