Better late than never - library book returned by Good Samaritan 55 years later

'Fire of Francis Xavier' was checked out of the Fort Washington library branch in Washington Heights in 1958. When it was returned, it had a check in it for $100, presumably to cover the fines.

A mystery Good Samaritan is giving the library its dues — returning a book 55 years after it was borrowed.

An uptown branch of the New York Public Library finally got “Fire of Francis Xavier” back — more than five decades after the biography of the 16th-century priest was checked out.Library manager Jennifer Zarr tells the newspaper the book arrived at the library on Monday wrapped in a plain brown envelope with a check for $100 to cover the dues inside.

She says library records don’t go back to 1958 and there’s no way to trace who borrowed the book. She won’t reveal the name on the check.