Posted by Ahem on May 02, 2001 at 21:01:37:
Reward for Book 130 Years Overdue
Updated: Wed, May 02 08:50 AM EDT
DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish city of Kilkenny is offering a reward of $2,869 for the return of a 450-year-old record book borrowed 130 years ago, no questions asked.
The book, called the Liber Secundus and containing records of court cases and other local events from the first half of the 16th century, was apparently lent out by a clerk in the 1870s and never returned, Kilkenny's mayor Paul Cuddihy said Tuesday.
"We don't know where it is, but if somebody has it and we can prove it's genuine we're giving the money over and have the book returned," he said.
The book belonged to a collection recording the history of Kilkenny, which was founded in the sixth century.
"We think that somebody borrowed the book, and it could have been somebody known to the town clerk at the time, who was borrowing the book to do research," said Cuddihy.
The mayor, who has given up hope of retrieving another book in the collection which was last seen in 1352, said he felt time was running out for getting back the Liber Secundus.
"Because people are becoming more mobile and they're moving houses and they're throwing things out, we believe that whatever chance we have, if it's still in existence, we need to find it now, which is why we're putting up this reward."
He said Kilkenny had set the reward at $2,869 (2001 Irish punts) on the advice of a public relations specialist to catch people's attention.