A man who thrifted a box of books didn't think twice about it—until he looked inside one 25 years later.
Mark Loder, a visual artist, lives in Pennsylvania, and recently took it upon himself to clear out his attic after decades of clutter building up there. While decluttering, he came across a box of books he had thrifted a quarter of a century earlier. And, while looking through it properly for the first time, Loder found something that has led him to go viral.
"I bought the book over 25 years ago at a used bookstore, along with a number of other books, and stored the box away," Loder told Newsweek. "I was decluttering my attic and came across it. It had no copyright, just the signature of James Buchanan Ziegler."
It was the date the man had signed it that caused the most interest, however—as inside the old, battered copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare, were the words: "James Buchanan Ziegler. Franklin & Marshall College. Jan 13th, 1862."
Finding it interesting that the book was more than 150 years old, Loder took to his Threads account @markuseug where he shared the story along with the signed inner pages.
And while many found it interesting, plenty of others had a humorous mix-up, as the number 8 in the date had faded slightly.
As one commenter put it: "For a second there, I thought that said 1562. My old eyes."
"Had to proper zoom in after reading this comment to see ah it's 1862," a second posted, while a third wrote: "Haha, I initially thought it said 1562 as well, and was ready to point out that maybe it wasn't legit."
And a fourth pointed out: "Right? Writing plays before being born adds a new level of genius and intrigue."
Shakespeare himself was born in 1564, in England's Stratford-upon-Avon, and died in 1616 at the age of 52—after writing dozens of plays, many of which remain firmly in the mainstream today, almost 500 years later.
Loder told Newsweek "a lot of people" appeared to think his book was signed 1562, and "a number of people" even initially thought the book had been signed by Shakespeare himself.
"They must not have zoomed up on the image," he added. "Plus the time frame is way off!"
Plenty of others found the discovery fascinating at face value, with one writing, "Now that's a find," and another adding: "You found a great find TWICE!"
"A wonderful find and truly a keeper, that you’ve already kept a quarter century, but now you’re aware of it!"
Some users even managed to track down the book's original owner. According to the website Family Search, based on the 1870 United States Census, Buchanan Ziegler was born in 1838 in York, Pennsylvania.
He married Catharine Getz in October 1864 and died in 1906 at the age of 67. He is buried in York, Pennsylvania, the same town in which he was born.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some extra details, and they could appear on our website.