[LIS-Forum] British woman returns book to library after 130 years

[Padmanabha Vyasamoorthy]

N
​ews items like this may be useful for Souvenirs connected with library
events
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British woman returns book to library after 130 years

The book which was borrowed from the library of Hereford Cathedral School
in 1886 by Professor Arthur Boycott was returned after 130 years, through
his granddaughter.
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By PTI   |   Published: 8th Dec 2016   3:12 pm Updated: 8th Dec 2016   4:19
pm
Representational ImageOpen
London: Some 130 years after her grandfather borrowed a book from his
school library, a woman in the UK has returned it with an apology letter,
saying “your former pupil appears to have stolen” it.

Alice Gillett, 77, came across a copy of ‘The Microscope and its
Revelations’ written by Dr William B Carpenter, while clearing through her
late husband’s possessions from Taunton, Somerset in England, a media
letter said on Thursday.

While turning the pages of the 1,000-page book, she discovered a date stamp
showing it was borrowed from the library of Hereford Cathedral School in
1886, Metro.co.uk reported.

It had been loaned to her grandfather Professor Arthur Boycott who attended
the school between 1886 and 1894. He was a distinguished naturalist and
pathologist, the report said.

Gillett returned the book to the school along with an apology letter.

“I am sorry to inform you that one of your former pupils, Professor A E
Boycott appears to have stolen the enclosed – I can’t imagine how the
school has managed without it!,” she wrote in the letter.

The school does not charge for overdue books but if they had, Gillett could
have been landed with a bill of 7,446 pounds (USD 9,463) – based on a
17p-a-day charge at most libraries, the report said.

Gillett said, “As a child, he (Boycott) took great interest in natural
history, and his particular passion was snails. At age 15, he published his
first paper listing the snail species that could be found in Herefordshire”.

He also had a fascination with fauna and flora made him quite a hazardous
driver because he was so obsessed with observing the hedgerows, she said.

“My grandmother said he always had snails in his pockets,” she said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the school said, “We are delighted to be
reunited with the book and are pleased it is still in such good condition”.
http://telanganatoday.news/brit-lady-returns-book-130-years

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