Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2022 Issue

Arsenic In Old Books

At one time the U.S. Public Health Service recommended dusting swamps and ponds with Paris or Emerald Green to control mosquitoes.

We think of “green” as meaning natural, healthy, life-giving like plants. Well, not always. Arsenic is the primary ingredient in something very green, a pigment known as Emerald Green or Paris Green. In its Emerald Green incarnation it is a vivid green pigment, a bright and attractive color used for coloring things such as wallpaper and paint. The latter includes paintings, with artists such as Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh having used it. It has also been used in book covers. In its incarnation as Paris Green it has a very different use, and this is the one most often associated with arsenic. It was used to kill pests. It has been sprayed on crops to kill insects and in other places to kill rodents. It got the name “Paris Green” because it was used to kill rats in Paris' sewers. As murder mystery readers know, it can also be used to kill humans.

 

The compound was invented in the early 19th century. As a pigment, its use was primarily confined to that century, but it continued to be used somewhat later to kill crop pests and mosquitoes. In books, it is mostly found on covers of mid-century books. If you have a 19th century book with a bright green cover, you may want to handle it cautiously and do some research to see if it is one that requires especially careful handling.

 

There is currently research on this subject being carried out at the Winterthur Museum and Library in Delaware. It is called the Poison Book Project. Their conservationists stumbled onto the issue a few years ago. Dr. Melissa Tedone was preparing books for a 2019 exhibit when she discovered that the bright green color easily came off in flakes. That led her to believe it was a pigment rather than a dye and she wondered if it if it might be the same Emerald Green used in wallpaper and other items in the 19th century. Stories abound about children becoming deathly ill in their rooms painted with this pigment in the 19th century.

 

Dr. Tedone brought the book to the Winterthur's Scientific Research and Analysis Lab where x-ray spectroscopy and various other tests were performed to determine the pigment's make-up. What they found was copper acetoarsenic, better known as Emerald Green.

 

From there they proceeded to undertake a more thorough investigation of old green books in their possession and that of the Philadelphia Library Company. In all they analyzed nearly 350 books and found 39 in Emerald Green colored bindings, some of which were in the circulating collection.

 

A similar case to this one, appropriate for an Agatha Christie mystery, came up in Denmark in 2018 when researchers also accidentally bumped into the issue. There was a book in the University of Southern Denmark's library and researchers were trying to discover what was written on parchment in the bindings. In the early days binders often used parts of old books to make their bindings. They couldn't get a good look with x-rays as a wall of green paint was in the way. When they examined it further, they discovered that the paint was the arsenic-laden Emerald Green. However, in this case the pigment wasn't being used to create bright green covers as it was buried under the covers. The Danish researchers concluded that most likely it was there for its other use, to keep bookworms and other insects from devouring the book. You can look back at that story by clicking here.

 

The researchers and conservationists at the Winterthur have taken their knowledge one step further. They have initiated the Poison Book Project. Along with the 39 of 350 containing arsenic they found 50% contained lead in the bookcloth, others chromium. Still, it is the arsenic that is the major concern. They are now focusing on green bookcloth as that is where arsenic is found. They concluded, “Emerald green publishers’ bindings present a health risk to librarians, booksellers, collectors, and researchers, and should be identified, handled, and stored with caution.” They recommend using the disposable nitrile gloves used in the medical profession when handling them. They suggest these books be stored in zip-top polyethylene bags. Extra care is needed as what Ms. Tedone initially noticed is the case – the green pigment readily peels off.

 

If you think you may have one of these arsenic books, they are providing color swatches to help identify the color (they are arsenic-free). You can receive one by contacting them by email at reference@winterthur.org. Provide your name and postal address. They have also created a database of books that may have arsenic in the covers. They have identified 101 so far. All are from the 19th century with the great majority from the middle of that century. You can find the Arsenical Books Database at the following link: wiki.winterthur.org/wiki/ARSENICAL_BOOKS_DATABASE.

 

We don't mean to alarm you and as long as you don't lick or eat your book covers you won't die. But be forewarned, if you aren't careful, don't wash your hands or protect cuts and open sores, or you breathe in too much of the dust, you could get fairly sick.


Posted On: 2022-11-03 02:32
User Name: mairin111

Good article, Mike, thanks for the information.
I must check my 'old timers' here for any 'arsenic books'.
Shall send link to colleagues who handle old books
almost daily. Best regards, M. Mulvihill, Collector.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions