A Real Gem From the Past

Earlier this week, a book was returned to the Missoula Public Library that had been checked out in 1905. It made it's way from California to the Midwest actually I learned it traveled from Missoula to New York City, then somewhere in California, then Seattle and finally back to Missoula. stopping at all points in between. Now, in 2009 it finally made it back to it's home (even though the library has moved since then). The book is called Gems for the Fireside or, Casket of Diamonds.

The book is beautifully illustrated and was originally published in 1883. You can take a look at the book in it's entirety thanks to the lovely folks from Google. From the looks of it, the copy they scanned comes from a later version, since the library date stamp is from 1939. Our copy was the tenth book EVER to be included in our collection.

The book is going to be re-cataloged and added to our historical collection in the Audra Browman room, where we keep our genealogical books and other historical finds.

We'd love to hear more about the travels of this book, as we didn't get the full story when it was returned, so if you happen to know who it was that returned it, we would love to have a chat with them so we could fully document this fantastic story.