Librarians at the Westwood and Price Hill branches of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library got quite a surprise late last year. A copy of “Wild West” by Bertrand W. Sinclair was returned after 98 years.

“I’ve been here a while, and I’ve seen books come back that were due in the ’80s and the ’90s and even the ’70s, but this is the first time I’ve come across a book that was almost a century overdue,” Christopher Smith, genealogy and research services reference librarian, tells WVXU.

According to the date slip in the back of the book, it was checked out from the Price Hill branch sometime in 1926 and due back on Nov. 23, 1926.

It was never returned, until now.

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Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

The book was discovered by family members cleaning out the home of an elderly loved one who had died. It was found on a bookshelf with other books, though Smith says it’s unclear to whom the book belonged.

“We assume it’s the person wh