The Reading Joy & Delight Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

One of my acquaintances works in a university library. About 15% of their books from the 1830s-1870s have green covers that used arsenic in the colourant. Like many libraries, they have a safe handling sheet for these books. It pretty much follows the one in the Poison Book Project.

I never knew that old books were made with dangerous/toxic chemicals.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I never knew that old books were made with dangerous/toxic chemicals.

Arsenic was used quite extensively in at least two green pigments—Scheele's green which was later replaced by Paris green (aka emerald green). Paris/emerald green chemically was copper acetoarsenite while Scheele's green was cupric hydrogen arsenite.

Not only were they used in book covers and illustrations, they were used in clothing. Admittedly, this was an era where one two volume book I used to own recommended coating the inside of windows with sulphuric acid to prevent them from frosting. Even looking at the section on photography suggested that worrying about the effect of chemicals on your life span was not a big concern.

[Renate]

People were quite cavalier with all sorts of chemicals in the past.
From "Harper's Electricity Book for Boys" 1907, instructions for silver-plating:

Dissolve two ounces of cyanide of potassium in a quart of water.

No mention of toxicity or safety precautions.

[ownedbycats]

I have a textbook from the 1950s talking about how lead is highly versatile to be used in both paint and gasoline.

[DNSB]

Considering that white lead was used as a cosmetic? It created a soft-focus look that blurs wrinkles and blemishes or the look of a youthful, dewy complexion(*). Sadly one popular mix was white lead and vinegar used by Elizabeth I. That mix allows lead to much more easily absorbed through the skin. Killing yourself to look beautiful is not a modern invention.

* That was from one study I read which found the white lead was much more natural looking that the titanium dioxide used by actors when playing someone wearing white lead.

[Apache]

Up through the "80s I could buy cyanide eggs for stripping and plating and have it shipped to my store. The number one choice for suicide by bench jewelers used to be swallowing a cyanide egg. You could also kill yourself and any others around you if you did not have proper ventilation when plating. Now everything is cyanide free for some reason.
Apache

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I absolutely hate the look, feel and smell of old paper books, and dislike even that of the new ones. Never understood the fascination with the physical aspects of paper, especially old paper. Your description actually made me want to puke.

Amen! Anyone like me with allergies will immediately start sneezing or try to cough up a lung!

Give me a nice dust free phone, tablet, reader or pc thank you very much!!!!

[JSWolf]

The joy of reading on a Kindle is when you turn on WiFi to download what you just bought and all of your side loaded eBook get removed by Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Amen! Anyone like me with allergies will immediately start sneezing or try to cough up a lung!

Give me a nice dust free phone, tablet, reader or pc thank you very much!!!!

Dust mites, buts, mold, mildew, toxic chemicals, dust, and other nasty stuff on paper books and people want to inhale it all. Emergency room here they come.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The joy of reading on a Kindle is when you turn on WiFi to download what you just bought and all of your side loaded eBook get removed by Amazon.

That's an awfully strange joy.

On the topic, pretty much a lot of posts I've read indicate that the Kindle is so sideload-unfriendly (covers going missing, for example) that I wonder why anybody even uses them.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

On the topic, pretty much a lot of posts I've read indicate that the Kindle is so sideload-unfriendly (covers going missing, for example) that I wonder why anybody even uses them.

Kindles permanently in airplane mode don't have those problems.

[Renate]

I'm looking forward to reading this one:

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Renate

I'm looking forward to reading this one:

What in the fudge?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

What in the fudge?

There is a juvenile botany book with that cover.
Somehow they also used it for A.C. Doyle in Finnish.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/sea...t_search=Go%21
I reported it a few days ago.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The joy of reading on a Kindle is when you turn on WiFi to download what you just bought and all of your side loaded eBook get removed by Amazon.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

That's an awfully strange joy.

On the topic, pretty much a lot of posts I've read indicate that the Kindle is so sideload-unfriendly (covers going missing, for example) that I wonder why anybody even uses them.

Kobos are so much better. Plug it in, transfer your books, unplug it... corrupted database.