The book “Antiquities of Athens,” published in 1858, was returned to the library in Kiama by a man who had found it during recent home renovations inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace, Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Library book returned after 150 yearsKnow the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow“We’ve never had anything that old come back to us,” Hudson said. In the 1870s, books were not lent to people who arrived at the library in a “state of intoxication.” The returned book will be displayed in the library’s local history collection. We don’t want to wait another 150 years for this book to be returned,” Hudson said.