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George Washington Racks Up 220 Years of Late Fees At Library

Posted by samzenpus on from the at-least-he-read dept.

Everyone knows that George Washington couldn't tell a lie. What you probably didn't know is that he couldn't return a library book on time. From the article: "New York City's oldest library says one of its ledgers shows that the president has racked up 220 years' worth of late fees on two books he borrowed, but never returned. One of the books was the 'Law of Nations,' which deals with international relations. The other was a volume of debates from Britain's House of Commons. Both books were due on Nov. 2, 1789."

3 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So... by Eevee · · Score: 4, Informative
    If we go to a better news source, we see that

    Sadly for fans of 18th-Century political literature, they appear to have vanished.

  2. Re:So... by Abstrackt · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just in case you didn't know, it's "touché" and not "too shay".

    Just in case you didn't know... it's probably Shay. ;)

    --
    They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
  3. Re:And he decided to pay the late fees... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    He must have read it somewhere in 'Laws of nations' that keeping things you borrow with you for ever is not a punishable act by law.

    Obviously not. Laws of Nations deals with public international law, whereas the mens rea requirement "permanently to deprive the owner" is an element of the common law crime of larceny. Moreover even under common law borrowing things and not returning them is, depending on the facts of the case, either a breach of bailment or the tort of detinue, both of which give rise to actions (where they have not been abrogated by statute -- which they certainly were not in the C18th).

    Sheeshh, what do they teach you kids in Law School these days!