Shakespeare book returned to N.J. library 100 years overdue

Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A copy of William Shakespeare's Life of King Henry the Fifth was returned to a New Jersey library 101 years after it was checked out.

Paterson Public Library officials said a woman named Cynthia Delhaie found the book while sorting through the possessions that had belonged to her deceased grandmother, Arlene Delhaie, and discovered the tome had been checked out from the library in 1923.

Delhaie contacted the library and made arrangements to return the book.

"It's never too late to return overdue library materials," Corey Fleming, director of the Paterson Public Library, told TAPinto Paterson. "This is the first time I have encountered something like this in over 20 years of working in this field."

Librarians said the 1910 printing had a limited run and is highly valued by collectors.

The book wasn't quite as overdue as one that was returned to Poudre Libraries in Colorado earlier this year. Officials revealed a copy of Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott, was returned 105 years after its due date: Feb. 13, 1919.