![]() ![]() A legacy lives onĪt the time of the book's publication, Goodman said some of the hot discussions around electricity included how to make a lightbulb last longer, and how to tame their brightness to suit smaller, indoor spaces. "So it's not the kind of thing people would be able to take home with them," she said. While the book is back at its former home where, 100-plus years ago, it could have been checked out like any other selection, Goodman said because of its historic nature it will likely take residence within the library's protected archives, where it can be accessed within the building but only upon request. Goodman added that, while researching, she also found it interesting that Edison – often credited with leading electricity's emergence – was much less formally educated than both Maxwell and Garnett. They weren't completely finished but they were very, very full." "I found this piece interesting: it was the editor, William Garnett, and then a team of other people, who sat and figured out what to do with his manuscripts to put this together. "He was British, a professor of experimental physics, an honorary fellow with a ton of degrees, but he died in November of 1879 before this was published," she said, noting most of the material was originally written around 1874. About the author: A quick history lessonĪ researcher by nature, Goodman also dug deeper to learn some things about Maxwell. Northern lights: 17 US states could see them next week. "So I think when this material was being published it was really cutting-edge." ![]() "It was a huge deal emerging electricity was going to change everything," she said, noting the publication's timing three years after the first incandescent lightbulb had been patented by Thomas Edison. Goodman said the tome, by author James Clerk Maxwell, appears to be instructional/informative in nature, written during a time when electricity was in its early stages of being introduced for home use. Discovering the New Bedford library slip under its cover, staff there reached out to the New Bedford library to see if there was interest in having it returned. Luckily, the library's late fee limit is $2.Īccording to Melo and special collections librarian Jodi Goodman, the book, titled "An Elementary Treatise on Electricity," published in 1882, was found at West Virginia University among a private collection after it had been donated to the school. The library typically has a 5-cent-per-day late fee, meaning a 119-year-late book would have had to pay over $2,100 in fines when it was returned. 10, 1903, finally found its way back to New Bedford. That's the message she hopes the public will get when they hear about how, in early June, a book last marked due back to the library by Dec. "It's never too late to return a library book," said New Bedford Free Public Library Director Olivia Melo. A library in Massachusetts got a pleasant surprise when a 19th-century book overdue by more than 100 years was returned. ![]()
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