(TheConservativeNews.org) – If you’re a member of a library, chances are you’ve had to pay late fees at some point. It happens; you forget to finish a book right away, or you put it down and can’t remember where you left it. People usually get their overdue volumes back to the library within a few days, or a couple of weeks at the most. Recently, however, a British library reported the return of a book that was quite a bit later than that.
On Friday, July 9, The Sheffield Star reported that a cathedral in the English city of Sheffield recently received a book in the mail that was borrowed from its library around 300 years ago. The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man, by William Stanley, was first published in 1688. It’s considered a work of cultural importance and is now public domain in the United States.
The Rev. Canon Keith Farrow, who serves as vice dean at Sheffield Cathedral, said the church received the book after a lady in Wales had found it among her godmother’s belongings when she died. The deceased lady indicated in her will that the book was to be returned to the cathedral. A note inscribed within the book indicates it was borrowed from the church’s library in 1709.
So, the next time you have a root through your old book collection, be careful. You could be handling a historical artifact!
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