Beautiful - but deadly....
At first sight this is a charmingly decorated Victorian binding - but this book conceals a dangerous secret: the distinctive emerald green color of the book cloth here is derived from copper acetoarsenite, and contains toxic levels of arsenic. 1/
At first sight this is a charmingly decorated Victorian binding - but this book conceals a dangerous secret: the distinctive emerald green color of the book cloth here is derived from copper acetoarsenite, and contains toxic levels of arsenic. 1/
This potentially deadly bookcloth is found between 1840 & 1860 in both the UK and USA. The bright green arsenic-derived colour was especially successful at setting off elaborate gilt decoration, and was used without any understanding of its inherent danger. 2/
This is one of the specific titles identified by the Poison Book Project of the Winterthur Museum as containing toxic pigment that permeates the outer covering of the cloth-case publisherβs binding; a significant quantity of arsenic-based pigment is present in the bookcloth. 3/
Conservation guidelines advise handling books with this type of cloth only with nitrile gloves, and washing hands thoroughly afterwards. They should be stored separately from other volumes in ziplock polyethylene bags to limit handling and contain potentially friable pigment. 4/
Were there real casualties from books like this? Possibly, yes. This type of book-cloth was predominately used on "gift" books - small books of sentimental poetry & prose, the type of book you might keep close to your body in a pocket, or put on a pillow before bedtime.... 5/
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