Centuries-old Greek antiquities book resurfaces in Kiara library after 150 years

Renovation work at a Kiama home uncovered a 19th-century book on Greek antiquities that had been sealed inside a fireplace for roughly 150 years. Ross Simmons retrieved the tome from a tea crate and delivered it to Kiama Library, where manager Michelle Hudson said it is the oldest work ever returned to the branch. Published in 1858 and catalogued as No. 506, the book was among the roughly 1,000 volumes the library acquired when it opened in 1872.

Library records from that era are missing, leaving the identity of the original borrower uncertain, though Simmons suspects his great-great-grandfather John Simmons may have taken it. Had the overdue fine been applied, it would amount to about 28,000 Australian dollars after inflation. The library will now exhibit the damaged volume in its local history collection and will not lend it out again.