A current affairs magazine that was checked out from a New Hampshire library at the end of the 19th century has finally been returned as a piece of history – more than 130 years overdue.

Staff at Concord Public Library were surprised when an 84-year-old man walked into the branch earlier this month with what NBC News said was “a relatively well-cared-for edition” of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine from September 1894.

John Hanson told the Concord Monitor he took advantage of a fine amnesty at the library to return the publication, avoiding a penalty that could have theoretically amounted to $12,055 in late fees for the 48,220-day loan.

“Yeah, when I saw that, I said to myself: ‘Boy, this would be a good time to bring it back’,” he said.

The person who checked out the magazine, however, is destined to remain unknown. Hanson said it came into his possession during a house move in 1966, and that neither of his parents had a library card.

He said his late first wife, Carol, was a regular library patron, but would never have let an item become even slightly overdue, let alone 1,583 months.

The Century Magazine was an illustrated periodical published between 1881 and 1930 that blended history, literature, poetry and current events. Its heyday was the decades of the late 19th century in which it extensively covered the aftermath of the US civil war.

It also introduced readers to a number of emerging writers such as Henry James and Mark Twain by printing extracts from their works. It carried passages from Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, first published in the US in 1885.

The copy that Hanson returned featured a Concord Public Library bookplate, and advised its borrower that it “may be kept for one week”.

Jennifer Needham, the library’s archivist and outreach coordinator, told the Monitor that she was at the circulation desk when Hanson came in with it. She said he produced it from inside an envelope and told her: “I have a book to return, and I bet you haven’t seen anything like this.”

“I honestly thought it was going to be from the 1980s, 90s or 2000s. But then he pulled this out, and I was like: ‘Ooo, tell me more!’” she said.

“I am just so curious. Like someone obviously checked this out, and why didn’t they bring it back, or did they lose it and then they were ashamed and were afraid to bring it back?”

Articles from the magazine’s September 1894 edition included one covering a debate about the need to provide more outdoor playground space for children at urban public schools.

“That’s one thing that was really interesting,” Needham told NBC.

“I didn’t know this history, that they were arguing that more city schools should have outdoor spaces for children to play. It sounds like during that time, that just wasn’t a priority. It’s interesting that they would play inside then.”

There were also several pages of advertisements for products of the day. One was for Beeman’s Pepsin Gum, touted as “a delicious remedy for all forms of indigestion”.

Another promoted Hernan Cortez Cigars, produced in Key West, Florida, “under the most favorable climatic conditions” to its target audience: “men of brains”.