An overdue children's book last checked out in 1910 from a public library in Idaho, which would have racked up more than $800 in late fees, has been anonymously returned, library officials said. Published in 1907, an early edition of New Chronicles of Rebecca, by Kate Douglas Wiggins, was returned to the Garden Valley District Library on November 16, about 51 miles outside of Boise, city library officials said. The Boise Public Library confirmed the book was originally borrowed from one of the city's first major public building —the Carnegie Public Library — more than a century ago. 'The checkout desk noticed that it was rather old and it didn't have any current markings, so they looked into it,' city library assistant Anne Marie Martin told NBC affiliate KTVB of Boise. 'I don't think anybody here has seen a book' that's been away for so long,' she added. It remains unclear who had checked out the copy, who had returned it or where it was for the last century. One theory is that the book could have stayed in an attic, 'because it was really well taken care of,' Lindsey Driebergen, interim communications manager of the Boise Public Library said, further describing the book as being in 'immaculate condition'. 'The cover was in great shape, all of the pages were crisp, nothing was missing, all the images were there,' she said. The first page and the spine of an early edition of New Chronicles of Rebecca. The book was checked out of the Boise Public Library in 1911 and returned in 2021 An inside illustration of The New Chronicles of Rebecca The book is a sequel to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which tells to the story of a girl named Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the village of Riverboro, Maine. It was so popular back in the day that it was eventually adapted as a musical in 1938 that starred Shirley Temple as Rebecca. After the Boise Public Library collected the antiquarian book, it was arranged to be placed in its history room, where readers can browse it but not check it out. Prior to its return, the then-popular book was checked out on a regular basis from the Carnegie Public Library, a building dating back from 1905 that is now on the National Register of Historic Places and has been repurposed for artists as studio space. And according to the library's rental policy, readers could keep books for two weeks without renewal before a fine of two cents per day was imposed on overdue books. If loss or damaged, the library would charge people the original price that it bought the book for. In this specific case, the 278-page book was more than 40,000 days overdue, adding up to $803 in fines, the Boise library confirmed. However, the person who checked out the copy in the early twentieth century would have probably been told to pay the book's original purchase price, which would have been valued at $1.50 back then, KTVB reported. Meanwhile, librarians at the Boise Public Library have yet to discover the name of the person who checked out the novel and never returned it, due to the library system no longer saving the paper files that were used a century ago, according to Driebergen. With a fine of two cents per day for 111 years, whoever checked out this book would owe $803, according to Carnegie Public Library's policy The Boise Public Library system confirmed the book was originally checked out from one of the city's first major public building —the Carnegie Public Library (pictured) But she, as well as the other librarians, are hoping that someone with information on the book's historical journey will speak up. 'We're hoping someone comes forward and says, "Hey, it was my grandma's book," Ms. Driebergen said. 'If we had a little bit of understanding as to the history of it, we'd love to hear it,' she added, mentioning that 'no fines or anything that would be implemented.' Several library systems across the US, including New York City's, have gotten rid of overdue fines in recent years to encourage people to keep reading. 'It would be great if we could find out what happened, but that said, sometimes there are just mysteries in history,' Martin said. What is the New Chronicles of Rebecca about? New Chronicles of Rebecca by Kate Douglas Wiggin is the 1907 companion to the hugely successful Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903). The original volume is a classic tale of an orphan girl — a trope that was quite popular in this era — finding her way in a world that’s indifferent to her plight. Rebecca Rowena Randall also, not surprisingly, has to win the hearts and affection of tart maiden aunts who are at first annoyed by having to take her in. The original Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was a huge success from the time it was published. It was adapted for the the theater starting in 1910, and was filmed several times. The best-known film adaptation starred Shirley Temple (1938), with a rather altered plot. The book’s success paved the way for the sequel. New Chronicles of Rebecca is a more like a collection of linked short stories than a single novel, presenting further adventures of Rebecca. Some actually take place concurrently to the time original book, and some as Rebecca grows up, making this more like a companion volume than a sequel. Source: literaryladiesguide.com Advertisement All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility