Poison Books?! Arsenic Green! | Bite Sized Book History

If books could kill! Sometimes, green books hide a toxic secret in their bindings: arsenic ☠️ Why the heck would anyone make a book out of poison?! Learn about the dangerous history of some green books in this episode!
8:03 What do I do if I think my books are dangerous?
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Further reading:
Poison Book Project wiki.winterthur...
Poisonous books: analyses of four sixteenth and seventeenth century book bindings covered with arsenic rich green paint heritagescienc...
If Books Could Kill blog.library.s...
Looking to start your own rare book collection? Check out www.typepunchm...
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#RareBooks​ #BookTube​ #Bookshelves

[@RockandrollNegro]

90's kids were just built different. We had a whole television show about arsenic book coatings. It was called _The Arsenical Hall Show_ and his fans would go "whoo, whoo, whoo" and pump their fists to mimic the effects of arsenic poisoning. It was pretty cool.

[@BookHistoria]

😂😂😂😂

[@nanardeurlambda]

7:42 Props to the mad lad who chose to bind a book called "human longevity" using a known poison!

[@trose4298]

I am SO EXCITED I found you. I collect vintage books, and actually research and run the book selling part of the vintage store I work for. I'm trying to grow my knowledge even more but haven't found much, and then I found you! SUCH EXCITED

[@francisdec1615]

You can still find Paris Green in the US and sometimes even here in Europe. It was also a very common insecticide and it colours the flame beautifully blue in fireworks.

[@professorpeachez]

Just found your channel, this is great!! Having worked with a Victorian collection, arsenic is like glitter: in more places than you expect.

[@acolleenjones]

This is such a cool project! I feel like this could be the basis for a good fictional mystery of some kind! Also, your tattoo rocks!

[@huh735]

I WAS PANICKING after i found out the book from 1888 I bought is green. 😭 Was having a terrible placebo(?) arsenic headache and your video calmed me down a bit. Still getting rid of the book though. Nice green shirt that matches the green theme!

[@francisdec1615]

No! It's not THAT dangerous.

[@jordirovira8637]

Love your videos, thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@TreadleLady]

Very interesting. Hmmm, my old books are by color, better check out the greens. 😊

[@BookHistoria]

I love a good rainbow bookshelf! :)

[@user-dk5nr4hf3s]

Thank you so much for this info! I had a friend point out that some antique green books on my shelf look just like the ones made with arsenic. After doing some digging, she was right! I had no idea. Do you think an at home arsenic test kit would be accurate enough to tell if the books are harmful?

[@BookHistoria]

Depends on the kit! Some kits require you to moisten the area to get a sample, which you absolutely should NOT do -- moisture makes the arsenic a GREAT deal more dangerous. The Bibliotoxicology Working Group, based at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware, is working on solutions!

[@Art-in-Making]

Great video, very interesting.

[@danielmacd]

Very interesting!

[@lorikendrick5076]

Very interesting

[@everelusivekudos]

Interesting!

[@Ori-lp2fm]

The 😢😢😢