Dr Paul Davis said spotting the lost book on YouTube was an "'Oh my word' moment"
The BBC has a story about the recovery of a historical book connected to Mary Anning. Mary was a fossil collector back in the early 1800s. She made some critical discoveries including a complete plesiosaur, a 4-foot long ichthyosaur skull, and holotype specimen of Dimorphodon macronyx. Unfortunately, she didn't receive much recognition during her lifetime. More recently, she is seen as an inspirational figure that made significant contributions to the field of paleontology. The book recovered JS Miller's "Natural History of the Crinoidea" dates to 1821 and contains a hand written inscription to Anning. It was stolen from the Lyme Regis Museum in Dorset more than 40 years ago and recovered in Australia.
Geology curator Dr Paul Davis found it by chance at a museum in Australia when he spotted it on social media.
The book arrived back in the UK on Tuesday, the date of the pioneering fossil collector's birth in 1799.
Dr Davis recognised the work from the author's handwritten inscription to Ms Anning when he saw a YouTube video in 2022.
He said: "It was that 'Oh my word' moment when I realised that this was one and the same book."
