HOW TO BREAK THE MOLD IN CARING FOR YOUR BOOKS
The other day, while browsing through my bookshelves, I discovered mold - I think it was mold - on a first edition of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves. (Not that I'm a collector of first editions, but I do have a fairly large collection of PGW's works that I don't want to lose.) Alarmed, I called Jim Visbeck, owner of Isaiah Thomas Books & Prints in Cotuit.
Moisture is a common problem on the Cape, he reported, and yes, it can lead to mold. When a book gets damp, the stuff starts growing.
"If you're lucky, the mold is just on the outside," said Visbeck. "A soft-bristle brush should remove it."
If mold starts growing inside the book, that's another story. It can be treated with chemicals by a book restorer, says Pam Talin, who, with her brother, Jim, runs the Talin Bookbindery in Yarmouthport. Short of that, she recommends going outside, donning a surgical mask and brushing the spores off each page with a soft brush.
To prevent mold and mildew, avoid extreme humidity. Ideally, says Talin, that means having central air conditioning. Don’t store books in basements and along exterior walls. Good air circulation also helps.
“Don’t keep books wrapped in plastic,” advised Visbeck. “Books have to breathe.” Sun will kill the mold, he says, but it may also cause the book to warp.
As a self-acknowledged bibliomaniac (I love books. I hoard them. I scoop them up at library sales and used book stores and smuggle them into the house when my wife isn’t looking), I wondered what other book diseases lurk out there. What injuries might befall my favorite titles, and how can I protect them?
Just as extreme humidity can damage books, so can extreme temperatures. Heat can dry out a book’s binding, glue, and paper. Talin advises book owners not to store their books in the attic, where it can be very hot. Cranking up the heat in the winter can also make for a very hot and dry environment, not good for your library.
Insects can also be a problem. Talin says silverfish are partial to the starch found in paper, and crickets devour books.
“Insects are attracted to the glue,” said Visbeck. “Since all glues are different, one book will be eaten and another will not.”
The solution is to not store books where there are lots of bugs, like damp cellars. Uninsulated summer cottages can also be very buggy, observes Visbeck.
According to At Home with Books, by Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm and Christopher Simon Sykes, books suspected of carrying termites, beetles or other vermin may be frozen before introducing them into your library. To do this, make sure the books are dry, then wrap them in plastic bags and place them in the freezer to kills insects and their larvae.
Mice and rats like to nibble on books, too. They generally go for the binding, perhaps attracted by the glue. So can cats and dogs. “You’d be surprised how many people bring in books that have been chewed by dogs,” said Talin.
If a book is attacked by a mouse, don’t return the book to the same location on the shelf after you have it repaired, advises Jim Talin. And don’t keep valuable books where cats, dogs and rodents can get at them.
Juvenile humans also damage books. A 2-year-old will think nothing of expressing himself with red crayons throughout the pages of a leather-bound set of Charles Dickens when your back is turned. “If you’ve got somethingreally wonderful, put it up high, away from prying hands,” suggested Visbeck. (But not so high that it is subjected to too much heat and dries out.)
Dust certainly makes a library’s enemies list. “Dust will settle and seep into the paper,” Visbeck warned. Keep your books dust-free by occasional dusting or vacuuming.
Visbeck doesn’t advise putting dust covers on your books, as the material in the dust cover might damage the book. The brown grocery bag paper used by children to cover their textbooks is full of acid, he says.
“From a collector’s point of view, if the dust cover is not native to the book, it’s superfluous,” said Visbeck. (An original dust jacket in good condition, however, may double the value of a book.)
Acid content in paper can be a serious problem, according to Jim Talin. It causes paper to turn brown and brittle. De-acidifiers can be applied, but it’s a costly process, one that you would only do for a very valuable book.
“Some papers are woefully acidic, and no matter what you do, after a while they will go,” lamented Visbeck.
If a book is damaged – by insects, heat, or plain old wear and tear – repairs can be made by a good bookbinder. Books can be rebound, or, especially if they are valuable, they can be restored.
Don’t try to repair them with household tape and glue, cautions Pam Talin. If you don’t use archival tape and glue, she said, “it’s better not to do anything.”
Talin says she rebinds a wide variety of books, from rare and valuable ones to self-published family cookbooks. The cost to rebind a book, she says, starts at $50. Books can also be protected by placing them in custom or ready-made boxes.
Store books upright on a bookshelf, away from direct sunlight, advises Visbeck. Unless they can be well supported upright, very large books, says Pam Talin, should rest flat on their sides, so they don’t sag. When handling a large book, like a family bible, she suggests you support the cover well. “Don’t just let it drop open,” she said.
That’s about it. Dust, bugs, mice, dogs, heat, moisture, children, all can do terrible damage to your library, but that damage can be prevented, and repaired if necessary.
Oh, I almost forgot, my Wodehouse. The organic matter, thankfully, didn’t spread to The Clicking of Cuthbert or Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit. The mold came off easily, and the slim volume is as clean as if Jeeves had dusted it himself. My books are safe. I can sit in my little library, listening for mice, and read.
“God, as I once heard Jeeves put it, was in His heaven and all right with the world. (He added, I remember, some guff about larks and snails, but that is a side issue and need not detain us.)”