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Why really really old books smell so bad: In the scribe days in England when literacy was exclusive and the texts and manuscripts were intricate and long-term
by 6stringmerc 3y ago
Why really really old books smell so bad:
In the scribe days in England when literacy was exclusive and the texts and manuscripts were intricate and long-term artistic endeavors…
…the most frequent sealant used was sheep urine. IIRC. Basically there’s a LOT of reasons to wear gloves and a mask in the kind of places where they are stored for longevity.
Source: Early-Middle English course taught by an Oxford Man.
- TheAceOfHearts 3y agoAFAIK, this claim of requiring gloves when handling old and rare books is an outdated misconception [0] [1]. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/arts/rare-books-white-gloves.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/arts/rare-books-white-glo... [1] https://ask.loc.gov/preservation/faq/337286 https://ask.loc.gov/preservation/faq/337286
- 6stringmerc 3y agoI’m not saying anything is mandatory and tradition in the English scholarship field is…curious. Source: inducted to Sigma Tau Delta last semester I think to cover their ass if I do something great eventually. The only STD i knowingly have.