Shakespeare's play returned to library 101 years after it was checked out

A copy of William Shakespeare’s Life of King Henry the Fifth, shortened to Henry V, has been returned to a New Jersey library, 101 years after it was checked out.

A woman named Cynthia Delhaie was sorting and cleaning the possessions owned by her late grandmother, Arlene Delhaie, according to UPI.

Little did she know that during her errand, she would discover the tome checked out from the Paterson Public Library in 1923. After discovering the book, Delhaie contacted the library to return it.

The librarians reported that the 1910 copy of the Life of King Henry the Fifth is a limited edition run and is extremely valuable for literature collectors.

Born in 1564, Shakespeare is a renowned English playwright whose works are considered among the greatest pieces in the English language.

His surviving works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and several other poems, as per American Players Theatre.

"It's never too late to return overdue library materials," Director of the Paterson Public Library, Corey Fleming told TAPinto Paterson.

"This is the first time I have encountered something like this in over 20 years of working in this field,” he added.

Interestingly, the book was not that “overdue” as earlier this year, a copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott was returned to Poudre Libraries in Colorado 105 years after its due date which was February 13, 1919.