Has someone ate the gum-gum fruit before Luffy?


I know Shanks found it but Devil Fruit do reappear after the person who ate it
dies. So is it known if anyone ate the Gum-Gum Fruit before Luffy?




Shanks knew about the fruit from the "Devil fruit encyclopedia" (悪魔の実図鑑). Oda
answered this in the [SBS Volume
45](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/SBS_Volume_45):

> D: Hey, Odacchi! I got a question! About Devil Fruits!! If Kaku and Kalifa
> said they wouldn't know what their Devil Fruit were until they ate it, how
> come Shanks knew what Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi was before he ate it?? Tell
> me! Tell me now!! Pleeeease tell me!!! P.N. Shirogitsunekko
>
> O: Well, I think I'll eventually get to explaining more about Devil Fruits
> in the main story, but you see, there's a book of Devil Fruits. It has info
> about all kinds of fruit names and abilities, but few of the fruit can
> actually be identified by their shape. In the case of the Gomu Gomu no Mi,
> there was a picture and everything, but for Kaku and Kalifa, they were
> talking about how they wouldn't know until they had finally eaten the fruit.
> That was in Volume 40.

Since it was in the book, we can conclude that someone must have already eaten
the fruit before.

