Boston time capsule, sealed inside statue since 1901, yields small surprise: a hardcover book

Sculptor and art restorer Robert Shure removes a copper box from a lion statue at a studio, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 in Woburn, Mass. Historians and restorers removed and opened a small copper box that has been hidden for more than a century inside the statue, which has been sitting atop Boston's Old State House until it was taken down for refurbishing. Discovered inside the box were a hardcover book, along with papers from 1901, when the time capsule was sealed. Nothing was taken out of the box because of the items' fragile condition. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (The Associated Press)

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Sculptor and art restorer Robert Shure prepares to remove a copper box from a lion statue at a studio, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 in Woburn, Mass. Historians and restorers removed and opened a small copper box that has been hidden for more than a century inside the statue, which has been sitting atop Boston's Old State House until it was taken down for refurbishing. Discovered inside the box were a hardcover book, along with papers from 1901, when the time capsule was sealed. Nothing was taken out of the box because of the items' fragile condition. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (The Associated Press)

Sculptor and art restorer Robert Shure, top, removes a copper box from a lion statue at a studio, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 in Woburn, Mass. Historians and restorers opened the small copper box that has been hidden for more than a century inside the statue which has been sitting atop Boston's Old State House until it was taken down for refurbishing. Discovered inside the box were a hardcover book, along with papers from 1901, when the time capsule was sealed. Nothing was taken out of the box because of the items' fragile condition. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (The Associated Press)

WOBURN, Mass. – Historians who opened a small copper box that been hidden in the head of a lion statue atop a Boston building for more than a century got a small surprise: a hardcover book.

In addition to the expected papers, the Bostonian Society on Thursday found the small red book inside the box roughly the size of a modern shoebox. The book had no visible markings, and nothing was taken out of the box because of the items' fragile condition. So, the contents of the book remain a mystery.

Society President Brian LeMay said he was "absolutely delighted" by the discovery.

The time capsule has been sealed inside the lion's head since 1901. Rumors of its existence were confirmed last month when the statue was taken down from the Old State House for refurbishing.