Book returned to St. Paul Library after more than 100 years: one of the few to survive the devastating fire of 1915

A book that was removed from a Minnesota library in the early 20th century has finally been returned and may be one of the few surviving volumes from a 1915 fire.

Librarians at the St. Paul Public Library were surprised to receive a 1902 copy of “Famous Composers Vol. 2” that had been removed from the institution more than 100 years ago.

Nathan Haskell Dole’s book was found by a customer in Hennepin County, who had been going through his mother’s belongings and came across it. according to a tweet from the library.

Librarians believe it may be one of the few books that surprised the 1915 fire in the old library building in Old Market Hall.

By this time, a third of the library’s collection had been removed and “famous composers” are believed to have been among them.

According to the library, around 160,000 titles were lost in the fire.

“Virtually the entire library was destroyed,” he said in a tweet. “This book was probably one of the lucky few that survived!”

Librarians at the Saint Paul Public Library were surprised to receive a 1902 copy of “Famous Composers Vol. 2” that had been removed from the institution more than 100 years ago. X/@stpaullibrary

Two stamps on the book indicated that the volume had been entered into the library system twice: once in June 1914 and again in January 1916. The book “was probably added back to the collection in 1916, before the opening of the Central Library building in 1917.” “he said.

“Famous Composers” was revised several times during its brief stay at the Central Library, and was most likely last revised in 1919.

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St. Paul Digital Library Coordinator John Larson said it was the most delayed book he had seen returned in his 25 years of employment there, according to The Guardian.

“There’s been a time or two where something has come back and maybe been looked at for 20 or 30 years, but nothing looks like it’s been out of commission for about 100 years,” he said. “Maybe once every five or 10 years we see something incredibly delayed.”

Although the library no longer charges late fees, if it had (at a rate of 1 cent per day in 1919) it could have amounted to $36,000.

The library stopped charging fees in 2019, according to The Guardian.

Although the book finally made it home after more than a century, “Famous Composer” will most likely enter its retirement period due to its delicate condition, Larson said, adding that the library will preserve the volume.

“It has reached a point where it is no longer just an old book: it is an artifact. It has a little bit of history,” Larson said.

A New York library recently had a surprising return when an overdue book was sent back almost 90 years to the day it was checked out, and only incurred a surprisingly low $5 late fee.

A copy of Joseph Conrad’s 1925 book “Youth and Two Other Stories” was returned to the Larchmont Public Library in Westchester County last month, just before the 90th anniversary of its Oct. 11, 1933, deadline.

A woman cleaning out her stepfather’s belongings found the book and mailed it in late September, Larchmont librarian Caroline Cunningham told The Post at the time.

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Larchmont patrons are charged 20 cents each day a book is overdue, but the maximum fine is $5, the library said in a Facebook post.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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