3 ms·
The smell of an old book that hasn't been opened in decades is distinctive and pleasant, filled with happy memories. So at the risk of sounding creepy, and as a
by thret 12y ago
The smell of an old book that hasn't been opened in decades is distinctive and pleasant, filled with happy memories. So at the risk of sounding creepy, and as a fan of second hand book stores and old books - I wonder how this book smells?
I have only looked at really old books through glass, I've never held one.
- tdumitrescu 12y ago15th-century paper has a fairly different smell from aged 19th-/20th-century books; it was generally made from a pressed paste of old rags and clothes (broken down by boiling). i have no idea how to describe the smell in a way that distinguishes it from newer 'antiquarian' books, since it's still a musty smell, a bit like some old drywall and construction materials. that said, parchment manuscripts from the same period (written on animal skins) have a very similar smell, so maybe it's more the dust and binding materials than the paper itself which is the main component.
- xoe26 12y agoThis reminded me of something I read in a book about perfume. "Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units that are closely related to vanillin. When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which is how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute......"[1] [1] Turin, Luca, and Tania Sanchez. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide. London: Profile, 2009.