Why Do Old Books Smell?

I love the smell of used books in the morning hi my name is Richard from eight books if you walk into a used book shop you will encounter the unique aroma of aging books some people love that smell some people don't but where does it come from a physical book is made up of organic matter that reacts with heat light moisture and most importantly of all the chemicals used in its production and it's this reaction that causes the unique used books smell believe it or not chemists at the University College London have investigated the old book odor and concluded that many books release hundreds of volatile organic compounds into the air from the paper the lead scientist described the smell as a combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness vanilla chemicals are found in the wood pulp that makes paper and also in the ink for illustrations and text from a chemists point of view the biggest reason for a books decay is acidity and paper with too much acidity is common in books printed in the 19th and 20th centuries hence their rapid deterioration and the smell books produced by the earliest printers have survived for 500 years because the purity of their paper telltale signs of the deterioration are browning seen here and foxing seen here which are localized brown spots books can also react with external materials a newspaper clippings stored inside a book can cause a reaction because of its ink and it's cheap acidic paper books can absorb smells from their environment the most common one is tobacco smoke the best way to store your books is in a cool dry environment away from direct sunlight

Channel: AbeBooks.com

Views: 217,090

Keywords: AbeBooks, used books, bookstore, bookshop, old, antiquarian, smell, odor, old age, why, deterioration, musty, books, chemicals, heat, moisture, light, paper, passion for books, book, reading, read

Id: aUaInTfrDnA

Length: 2min 8sec (128 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 23 2012