yellowing of pages

In message , BenDRoss
writes
Hello-
I am not a major book collector by any means, but I do have a decent
collection of the books I value, and want to have them for my self, and
hopefully my future descendents to read years down the line. I buy a good
portion of my books from used book stores and often notice the pages are
slightly yellowed. I've done a bit of research on the topic, and it appears
that some of this is caused by acidic paper which isn't used anymore.
Basically, I want my books preserved, not so much for collector's sake, but
so myself or somebody years from now can open them up and read them. What I'm
wondering is if the yellowing of books (or other deterioration for that matter)
ever gets to the point where it renders them unreadable, or if it just makes
them not look as pretty. Thanks a bunch.

There is a preservation method that involves dipping the book into a
solution that neutralises the excess acid. It's not something the
average book collector can do for themselves.




--
Bernard Peek

www.diversebooks.com: SF & Computing book reviews and more.....

In search of cognoscenti

Bernard Peek wrote:

There is a preservation method that involves dipping the book into a
solution that neutralises the excess acid. It's not something the
average book collector can do for themselves.

A company called Preservation Technologies" market a deacidification spray
called Bookkeeper. No special skills are needed to use it.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

On 09 Jul 2003 17:32:13 GMT, (H Schinske) declared:

In message , BenDRoss
writes
Hello-
I am not a major book collector by any means, but I do have a decent
collection of the books I value, and want to have them for my self, and
hopefully my future descendents to read years down the line. I buy a good
portion of my books from used book stores and often notice the pages are
slightly yellowed. I've done a bit of research on the topic, and it appears
that some of this is caused by acidic paper which isn't used anymore.

It is too! And many older books are on alkaline paper that lasts fine. You
can't go by age. On modern books, look for a statement on the title page verso
that says it is on acid-free paper and/or has an infinity symbol on it. (I did
once see a book that bore this symbol and was turning brown anyway ... oops!)

I basically don't buy books on browning paper any more, barring cheap
paperbacks and the like. I would of course make an exception for something I
couldn't get any other way, but it ticks me off.

check out some best sellers from the past couple of years, their pages
are already tanning a bit. harper collins in particular comes to
mind.



robert

"there must be one night in your life that you will remember forever.
The must be one night for everyone. And if you know that the night
is coming on and that this night will be that particular night, then
take it and don't question it and don't talk about it to anyone ever
after that. For if you let it pass it might not come again. Many have
let it pass, many have seen it go by and have never seen another like it,
when all the circumstances of weather, light, moon and time, of night hill
and warm grass and train and town and distance were balanced upon the
trembling of a finger."

How do you de-acidify?

On 08 Jul 2003 00:19:16 GMT, (BenDRoss) wrote:

Hello-
I am not a major book collector by any means, but I do have a decent
collection of the books I value, and want to have them for my self, and
hopefully my future descendents to read years down the line. I buy a good
portion of my books from used book stores and often notice the pages are
slightly yellowed. I've done a bit of research on the topic, and it appears
that some of this is caused by acidic paper which isn't used anymore.
Basically, I want my books preserved, not so much for collector's sake, but
so myself or somebody years from now can open them up and read them. What I'm
wondering is if the yellowing of books (or other deterioration for that matter)
ever gets to the point where it renders them unreadable, or if it just makes
them not look as pretty. Thanks a bunch.
Unfortunately, acidic paper is still used in modern books.
Your books can be de-acidified, but the yellowing will still remain.
If the process is not halted, the books will eventually disintegrate.