15th-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 d

15th-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.