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This book tells the story of how item 5 in this exhibition returned to the library.

From the preface:

If you’re not paying attention, it is very easy to walk past the entrance to Marsh’s Library, a narrow metal gate in the high stone wall which surrounds the building. This place of quiet in the middle of the busy city of Dublin is crammed full of rare and ancient books.

Marsh’s has remained unchanged since it first opened more than 300 years ago, and that is one of the reasons why people come from all over the world to read here. Some of our visitors have been famous, but most have been ordinary people who, like you, happen to love extraordinary books.

The book you are holding in your hands tells the true story of a man who walked in to Marsh’s on a bright but cold day in 2012. Under his right arm (I remember it very clearly!) he carried something wrapped up in an old newspaper. “I found this in a junk shop. I think it might belong here,” he said. And it did. A very, very old book had come back home after a long absence from its proper place on the shelf.

Jason McElligott, The Keeper, Marsh’s Library, Dublin

Citation:
The Lost Library Book by Amanda Bell, with illustrations by Alice Durand-Wietzel, published by Onslaught Press, 2017,
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed May 14, 2025,
https://www.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/438