A long-overdue library book that returned to Harvard after 233 years made national and international headlines this past week.

The volume was one of 144 books that were checked out of the Harvard College Library at the time of the 1764 fire, which destroyed the first Harvard Hall and most of the Library's 5,000-volume collection.

Some of the borrowed books were eventually returned, but many were believed to be lost forever, including the third volume of Bishop White Kennett's Complete History of England (1706).

This spring, a Cambridge bookseller approached Harvard with the find, and -- thanks to an anonymous donor -- the book is now shelved in Houghton Library. Harvard does not know where the leather-bound tome has been all these years.

(Shortly after the fire, Harvard's great benefactor Thomas Hollis presented another three-volume set, noted Roger Stoddard, curator of rare books in the Harvard College Library. The copies, well worn by student use, remain in the library to this day.)

The rediscovered book is significant because the scribbles throughout shed light on the reading habits of undergraduates in Colonial days, Stoddard explained.

The story, mentioned at last week's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) meeting, was picked up by two wire services and made front-page news in five major cities. It received broad local and national TV coverage.

"It was great to see so much interest in a rare book from all over the country," said Mark Kishlansky, the FAS professor of history who was instrumental in bringing the book back to Harvard. "One hopes that it will translate into donations for the acquisition and preservation of more books for our incomparable library."

-- Debra Bradley Ruder

 

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Copyright 1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College