Poisonous Book Project
In the Victorian era, textiles were colored with a green copper aceto-arsentite, used from 1814 to the late 1800’s. (Side note: this green is sometimes referred to as Paris green or emerald green and was widely used by impressionist painters.) And since books were bound in textiles, it’s no surprise that these vivid green cloths were used to bind publisher’s bindings. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that these copper arsenic covers are lurking within our library collections dating to the 19th century. In 1855, Viridian green was invented which eventually replaced Paris Green; therefore, green cloth bindings from the 20th century to today are of likely no concern.
So how do we know if a binding is poisonous? Until recently, there hasn’t been a lot of published research on the subject. The ability to perform scientific analysis testing is required, such as the use of XRF (x-ray fluorescence elemental analysis). See this article for more info: https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-three-poisonous-books-in-our-university-library-98358.
When faced with the question of how to ID these textiles in the past, I’ve referred researchers to textile conservators who may be more familiar with this subject – as well as paintings conservators since they deal with pigments on a regular basis. The best resource on the subject I could track down was an adjacently-related conservation study on Navajo Textiles, titled, Coping With Arsenic-Based Pesticides on Textile Collections by Jae R. Anderson, Nancy Odegaard, Martina Dawley, Delana Joy Farley, and Werner Zimmt from the American Institute for Conservation ‘s Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Volume 21, 2014.
However, new research being conducted by Melissa Tedone and researchers at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library shines new light on the subject. They provide helpful recommendations on ID, handling, and storage. Please see https://www.iiconservation.org/content/poison-book-project to learn about the Poisonous Book Project being performed by Winterthur Library.
While our lab does not currently perform x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to confirm whether a book is poisonous, there are some visual clues to be aware of. When handling a copy of Rustic Adornments for Homes and Taste (1857) Melissa Tedone notes how “the bright green colorant flakes readily from the bookcloth with even the gentlest touch of my porcupine quill.” This pigment seems to be impregnated into the cloth rather than dyed, and therefore prone to brittleness and flaking.
Recommendations to those without the ability to ID pigments: If you suspect that your book may be bound within the Victorian era of the 19th century, treat the book as though it may contain arsenic.
- Place it in a polyester or polypropylene jacket and house it inside an enclosure.
- Handle it with gloves that are disposable or are washable
- When handling, lay it out on a table with paper liner that can be disposed of after use (or clean the table after use)
- If you are in need of a box for storage, University Products and Talas are great resources for purchasing archival housing supplies.
Additional recommendations for libraries by Melissa Tedone and the Winterthur crew include:
- Digitize bindings to provide researchers a non-toxic option of handling these texts
- Identify and store these books together in one location within collections storage. If these materials are affected in a potential flood or disaster, this will help to streamline handling and containment of these dangerous materials.
Curious to know if there are specific titles of books that have tested positive for “poison?” Check out this link for a table of books identified by the Poisonous Book project and compare against duplicate titles in your collection:
See http://wiki.winterthur.org/wiki/Poison_Book_Project
Since testing continues, the Winterthur research team has created a color swatch bookmark to assist with identifying potentially arsenical green bookcloth. The library asks for the consideration of of $5 or more to help cover printing and mailing costs. Email reference@wintherthur.org for more information.
To learn more, check out the 2023 Connecting to Collections (C2C) Care Webinar The Poison Book Project.
Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer (CHPL) – Rare Book and Paper Conservator, Lab Co-Manager
List of Resources:
https://www.iiconservation.org/content/poison-book-project
http://wiki.winterthur.org/wiki/Poison_Book_Project
https://www.iiconservation.org/content/news-conservation-issue-77-april-may-2020
https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-three-poisonous-books-in-our-university-library-98358
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/arsenic-and-old-books