Viewing at Naville today. There are a few more bays like this, and they told me that these are just 'the books that they don't use much' . The main library is elsewhere.
Those look scrumptious, but I've been having bad allergic reactions to old books I've purchased. Every time I open them, I get congested, sniffles, sore throat, itchy eyes. I guess it's mold. I suppose the library has all that under control. I'm afraid I'm going to have to get rid of several expensive books I purchased recently. Precious ones.
oy...soar throat. Well, I fixed that; and, perhaps I'll Google around and see if they have any answers for my book mold issue. I bet there is something I can do. Let me go see now that I have a few minutes.
I am going to try this: Zip lock bag. I'll use 2 gallon bags since I have large books. Put book in plastic zip lock - should have some excess room. Sprinkle baking soda in the bag around book. Seal bag. Put bagged book in powerful freezer . Let book freeze for a week. Defrost book, shake off/discard baking soda. Mold should be dead. Perform sniff test. If there is any smell or allergic reaction repeat process. I'll let you know how this works. Thank you Goooooogle! I'm excited!
I'm only allergic to book mold and dust...Oh, and also, if bees, wasps and yellow jackets come very near me, I have the strangest reaction. I start to run around and flap my arms and yell stuff like Eeeek! Heellp! It's weird. But cats? They don't cause me any reaction.
Wow, that would be so cool having all of those sweet coin books!! (thanks for the photos, Nerva) => ummm, here are a couple shots of our newly reno'd basement (lotsa books!!) Sadly, those are my wife's bookcases ... apparently my lone, geeky bookcase is not allowed to hang with her books (she kinda treats my books like the US coin collectors treat our coins ... man, no matter where I go I get zero respect)
Yah, most of them just can't seem to get over the fact that we clean the hell outta our coins and then we put our greasy fingers all over 'em ... oh, and worst of all ... => we don't like to slab 'em!! Plus, they can't believe that anything that's over 2000 years old can be genuine and only cost a hundred bucks!! Meh ... I like the tight-knit-non-main-stream bunch that we've got goin' on here!! (flawless)
Very, very cool collection of books. Doesn't get much worse than a "brusque receptionist" who forgets their place.
I love the smell of old books, I know that probably sounds a bit weird. But the sense of smell gives a more intimate connection to the past than sight or sound. The ink, the parchment, the vellum, all organic materials that are no longer used. I have a book from 1614, and you can just smell the 4 centuries of age on it. I also love going into a museum that has very old furniture. The smell of the varnish is very unique.