Everyone who really knows me, knows that I have (away too) many books.
I’ve been wondering what to do about the situation for some time now. I was checking out someone a Twitter friend suggested following and stumbled into her blog depicting how other collectors had arranged their collections. Nice libraries, eh? ~Sigh~

Here’s an article that won’t surprise bibliophiles!

from Science News

‘Smell of Old Books’ Offers Clues to Help Preserve Them

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) — Scientists may not be able to tell a good book by its cover, but they now can tell the condition of an old book by its smell.

In a report in ACS’ Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, they describe development of a new test that can measure the degradation of old books and precious historical documents based on their smell. The nondestructive “sniff” test could help libraries and museums preserve a range of prized paper-based objects, some of which are degrading rapidly due to advancing age, the scientists say.

Matija Strlic and colleagues note in the new study that the familiar musty smell of an old book, as readers leaf through the pages, is the result of hundreds of so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the air from the paper. Those substances hold clues to the paper’s condition, they say. Conventional methods for analyzing library and archival materials involve removing samples of the document and then testing them with traditional laboratory equipment. But this approach destroys part of the document.

The new technique, called “material degradomics,” analyzes the gases emitted by old books and documents without altering the documents themselves. They used it to “sniff” 72 historical papers from the 19th and 20th centuries, including papers containing rosin (pine tar) and wood fiber, which are the most rapidly degrading paper types in old books. The scientists identified 15 VOCs that seem good candidates as markers to track the degradation of paper in order to optimize their preservation. The method also could help preserve other historic artifacts, they add.

I received a book in the mail yesterday, one I’d ordered in for a customer. It was in a plastic bag popped into a card Express Mail envelope. The book was a 1937 naval handbook, well used and showing it.

I’m becoming increasingly angry over how people are posing as bona fide book dealers on the Internet, selling books for almost nothing, not describing the condition properly, and completely ignorant of how to package a book properly for shipping. In this case, I knew the book was in rough shape. But to send something, especially something so vulnerable to further damage, in a stiff paper wrapper? I even asked in the special instructions to shipper “Please pad well for shipping.” Apparently this ‘book seller’ is also illiterate. The description was pretty good, so I thought I was safe, too….

A good dealer knows how to ship books properly – even the cheap ones.

I always bag the book first, just in case the package falls in a puddle or gets soaked in a downpour. The bag also helps protect the book against high humidity and dust or contaminants in the packing in the parcel.

I always put hard covers, and usually paperbacks, in a container that allows for inert padding of some sort. Sometimes I do use crumpled newspaper – BUT – and this is VERY important – Newspaper should NEVER NEVER NEVER go against a book. The print rubs off onto the book and soils it, and if it gets wet, newsprint stinks. Books absorb odour so readily. Usually, I pack with bubble-wrap or shredded paper or recycled foam chips (remember the book is bagged so it is safe from the dust from these products).

Paperbacks I often slip into a padded envelope which is adequate to the purpose. Hard covers, however, I almost always box in a container that is large and STURDY enough to protect the corners from bumps (should the parcel drop and fall on one of its corners…).

Unless a truck runs over it, the book I mail arrives in the condition it left my shop. And yes. It often costs more than $6.50 in postage. Books, particularly hard covers, are heavy. I charge actual postage cost plus $2.00 to cover the cost of mailers, etc. and the trip to the post office. And I have happy customers, who often return because they know I’ll look after them and their purchase.

Another thing about the boxes of books people bring in to me…

When I open the box to look at the books, ten to one they’ll be either spine up or lying flat in the box. Occassionally they’ll be tossed in willy-nilly, in which case I generally say, “No, thanks,” without even looking at them. Anyone who treats their books that way probably doesn’t have anything in a condition rendering it resaleable!

Books are made to sit as they would on a bookshelf, that is, to sit on their tail edges, preferably together with books that are close to the same cover dimentions.

When set on their fore-edges, the weight of the pages pulls the block (the part of the book inside the cover) down, weakening the hinges and also the spine. This can result in a ‘loose’ binding – a book that wobbles freely, or worse, and radically reduces the value of a book. The problem is compounded when weight, like another box of books, is placed on top of the first box, or on top of the books in it.

Likewise, when books are stacked flat, there is a lot of stress put on the binding of the books further down in the pile, particularly when the pile is shifted in any way. Also, if the books are of varying sizes, the larger, unsupported covers may warp. This phenomenon is accentuated by cold, humidity and time. Warped boards (the hard panels of the front and rear covers) will also develop on the shelf if you have books of varying sizes next to each other, so try to keep the boards well supported across the shelf.

So, the best place for your books is in a dry, room temperature place, upright on the shelf with books of a similar size, or if you must move them, upright in a box for as brief a period as possible. And remember not to stack the boxes!

So often the books that people try to sell to me are dirty. Dirty books turn me off. But, having said that, I’d almost rather clean those books than have others do it!

Books generally stay pretty clean if they are kept on the book shelf. Depending on the type of shelf, though, the top edges can get dusty. The best way to clean that dust off is to get a clean, soft paintbrush. Take the book off the shelf, hold it closed and brush the dust off in a motion from the spine to the free edges (called fore-edges in ‘bookese’) of the pages. This keeps the headband (the seemingly decorative braided threads at the top of the bound edge of the pages in fine bindings) from getting clogged with dirt or lifted away from its anchor under the pressure of dusting.

Don’t vacuum your books. Vacuums can pull fragile bits of the binding like the headband out of place, damaging the books and reducing their value or lifespan under use.

While you have the books off the shelf, dust down the shelf. Doing this job while the shelf is bare makes for a cleaner shelf, keeps dust from being jammed into the ‘tail’ or bottom edge of the spine, and means less long-term wear on the covers from rubs as you dust. It also keeps the tail edges of the cover from grinding through dust as you take books from the shelf, so your book stays clean and looks less worn over time.

When you put the books back on the shelf, leave some space for them to breathe, if you can, above the books and at the back of the shelf. Allowing air to circulate keeps books drier and less prone to mildew, etc. It also means less wear on the bottom edges of your books as the books are dragged over less wood when they are moved on or off the shelf.

It is important that the books are on the shelf loosely enough that when you go to take one from the shelf, you can place your fingers on either side of the book to grip and pull the book out. Hooking your finger over the ‘head’ or top of the spine weakens the head and tail edges of the spine, quickly wearing down those elements of the cover and reducing the value of the book. It also puts stress on the binding that it wasn’t designed to bear, further weakening it over time.