Originally published at: Why old books smell better than new ones | Boing Boing
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So either you have an old book that perfumes you in its death-rattle or new books that fall apart slower but smell like a wet dog. Just more evidence that we can’t have nice things.
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Where are you getting that from?
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This is exactly the same way that whiskey and brandies age the way they do and develop character over time. However, I didn’t realize that books also go through the acid hydrolosis process as well. I just assumed that the esters were released as the paper degrades and stayed in that state or decayed, but this indicated that they are nearly identical processes to aging spirits.
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I’m sniffin’ lignin, right now!
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One of my favorite smells is old comic books.
OMG - me too! Comic books with rain mixed in - chefs kiss.
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So… Can I swizzle an old book in whiskey to make it better?
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I’ll just stick with my old assumptions that words age well (well, most of them).
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Hand papermaker here, can confirm. Wood pulp is used for consumer paper simply because, due to the logging industry, we have a lot of it, so its super cheap. The presence of lignin, and the chemicals used for lignin removal, is why hand papermakers consider wood pulp to be a stupid material to use for papermaking. Plant-based pulp is better because it doesn’t contain lignin; cotton pulp made from old cotton clothes was traditionally used before wood pulp.
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Both of my local bookstores are next to pet groomers.
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Working a comicc bookstore would have been heaven for me too. I love comics to this day. In the 60’s when the underground comics came out, I thought I’d arrived at the promised land. Maybe there’s a market to be tapped for make the old book smell for newly published stuff. Hell maybe they could try that smell on textbooks, kids might read more waiting for a punch line that never shows up.
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The only real downside to wearing a mask while shopping is that it’s harder to smell old books when I’m in a store full of old books. However this is easily remedied by purchasing said old books and taking them home where I can safely sniff them to my satisfaction solo and sans mask.
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An old friend in the Czech Republic turned me on the Pu Erh tea, saying it has the flavour/aroma of old books. Also, didn’t I read here about a perfume at some point?
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Um… you can sure try. Let me know how it goes!
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no worries - some spilled wine and some muffin crumbs - leave it on the shelf for a bit - off to the races
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