Everyone’s familiar with the smell of old books, the weirdly intoxicating scent that haunts libraries and second-hand book stores. Similarly, who doesn’t enjoy riffling through the pages of a newly purchased book and breathing in the crisp aroma of new paper and freshly printed ink? As with all aromas, the origins can be traced back to a number of chemical constituents, so we can examine the processes and compounds that can contribute to both.
As far as the smell of new books goes, it’s actually quite difficult to pinpoint specific compounds, for a number of reasons. Firstly, there seems to be a scarcity of scientific research that’s been carried out on the subject – to be fair, it’s understandable why it might not exactly be high up on the priority list. Secondly, the variation in the chemicals used to manufacture books also means that it’s an aroma that will vary from book to book. Add to this the fact that there are literally hundreds of compounds involved, and it becomes clearer why it evades attribution to a small selection of chemicals.
It’s likely that the bulk of ‘new book smell’ can be put down to three main sources: the paper itself (and the chemicals used in its manufacture), the inks used to print the book, and the adhesives used in the book-binding process.
The manufacture of paper requires the use of chemicals at several stages. Large amounts of paper are made from wood pulp (though it can also be made from cotton and textiles) – chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, often referred to in this context as ‘caustic soda’, can be added to increase pH and cause fibres in the pulp toswell. The fibres are then bleached with a number of other chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide; then, they are mixed with large amounts of water. This water will contain additives to modify the properties of the the paper – for example, AKD (alkyl ketene dimer) is commonly used as a ‘sizing agent’ to improve the water-resistance of the paper.
Many other chemicals are also used – this is just a very rough overview. The upshot of this is that some of these chemicals can contribute, through their reactions or otherwise, to the release ofvolatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, the odours of which we can detect. The same is true of chemicals used in the inks, and the adhesives used in the books. A number of different adhesives are used for book-binding, many of which are based on organic ‘co-polymers’ – large numbers of smaller molecules chemically chained together.
As stated, differences in paper, adhesives, and inks used will influence the ‘new book smell’, so not all new books will smell the same – perhaps the reason why no research has yet attempted to definitively define the aroma.
An aroma that has had much more research carried out around it, however, is that of old books. There’s a reason for this, as it’s been investigated as a potential method for assessing the condition of old books, by monitoring the concentrations of different organic compounds that they give off. As a result, we can be a little more certain on some of the many compounds that contribute to the smell.
Generally, it is the chemical breakdown of compounds within paper that leads to the production of ‘old book smell’. Paper contains, amongst other chemicals, cellulose, and smaller amounts of lignin – much less in more modern books than in books from more than one hundred years ago. Both of these originate from the trees the paper is made from; finer papers will contain much less lignin than, for example, newsprint. In trees, lignin helps bind cellulose fibres together, keeping the wood stiff; it’s also responsible for old paper’s yellowing with age, as oxidation reactions cause it to break down into acids, which then help break down cellulose.
‘Old book smell’ is derived from this chemical degradation. Modern, high quality papers will undergo chemical processing to remove lignin, but breakdown of cellulose in the paper can still occur (albeit at a much slower rate) due to the presence of acids in the surroundings. These reactions, referred to generally as ‘acid hydrolysis’, produce a wide range of volatile organic compounds, many of which are likely to contribute to the smell of old books. A selected number of compounds have had their contributions pinpointed: benzaldehyde adds an almond-like scent; vanillin adds a vanilla-like scent; ethyl benzene and toluene impart sweet odours; and 2-ethyl hexanol has a ‘slightly floral’ contribution. Other aldehydes and alcohols produced by these reactions have low odour thresholds and also contribute.
Other compounds given off have been marked as useful for determining the extent of degradation of old books. Furfural is one of these compounds, shown below. It can also be used to determine the age and composition of books, with books published after the mid-1800s emitting more furfural, and its emission generally increasing with publication year relative to older books composed of cotton or linen paper.
So, in conclusion, as with many aromas, we can’t point to one specific compound, or family of compounds, and categorically state that it’s the cause of the scent. However, we can identify potential contributors, and, particular in the case of old book smell, a number of compounds have been suggested. If anyone’s able to provide further information on ‘new book smell’ and its origins, it would be great to include some more specific details, but I suspect the large variations in the book-making process make this a tough ask.
In the meantime, if you can’t get enough of that new book or old book smell, you might be interested to learn that the aroma is available in perfume form.
The graphic in this article is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. See the site’scontent usage guidelines.
References & Further Reading
- ‘Characterisation of compounds emitted during natural ageing of a book’ –Agnès Lattuati-Derieux & others
- ‘Degradation product emission from historic & modern books’ – A J Clark & others
- ‘Material degradomics – on the smell of old books’ –Matija Strlič & others
Tags: books old book organic chemistry
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chupacabra007
Posted June 2, 2014 at 6:07 pm 0Likes
Also, there is another scent you can buy that smells like books! So good! http://cbihateperfume.com/shop/perfumes-a-to-z/306
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Compound Interest
Posted June 3, 2014 at 9:39 am 0Likes
I think I spotted an article on this one while I was writing this post – clearly book perfumes are a more popular line than you’d think!
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mint
Posted June 2, 2014 at 7:04 pm 0Likes
the words also contribute to the smell of old books
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mikegre
Posted June 2, 2014 at 7:40 pm 0Likes
Ah, the smell of a new Kindle.
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frank
Posted June 2, 2014 at 9:08 pm 0Likes
The digital age has indeed arrived so on that note the smell of books will be forgotten like old VHS
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Eden Mabee
Posted June 3, 2014 at 8:38 pm 0Likes
Either that… or like the idea of “smell-o-vision” there will be vaporizers built into the next gen of e-readers. To give that real book feel.
That said. Print isn’t dead, or even dying. Passing a book along in bound form is still easier than sharing an ebook with your friends.
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Compound Interest
Posted June 3, 2014 at 9:16 pm 0Likes
I have a Kindle, but I’ve still found myself reading more ‘real’ books than digital ones over the past few months. I’d agree print is a long way from dead currently.
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Outtanames999
Posted June 3, 2014 at 4:12 am 0Likes
Uh it’s mold and mildew
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Commenterio
Posted June 5, 2014 at 3:25 am 0Likes
So what will new books printed today smell like 50-100 years from now? Different than how old books smell today?
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Compound Interest
Posted June 6, 2014 at 11:24 pm 0Likes
They won’t degrade as quickly, because the lignin content is much lower – so the concentrations of any breakdown products produced would be expected to be lower as well.
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Pia Long
Posted October 15, 2014 at 4:01 pm 0Likes
Is this available as a poster? I would love to put this on my wall (being both book-obsessed & a perfumer). 🙂
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Compound Interest
Posted October 20, 2014 at 12:27 am 0Likes
Hi, sorry for the delayed reply! It isn’t currently available on the poster store – it uses a public domain image of books, and I’d need to check whether the licensing terms of that image would allow for its use in a commercial product. Until then, the PDF file is available at the bottom of the post, though, so if you have the resources to print it yourself, that could be a possibility?
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Pia Long
Posted October 20, 2014 at 9:50 am 0Likes
I’ll give that a go, thanks!
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shiroduckie
Posted January 9, 2016 at 12:03 am 0Likes
I’m so confused. I’ve worked in libraries for years, and I HATE the smell of old books. I really don’t understand why anyone likes the smell, or where the heck you’d get vanilla, almond, or anything sweet out of it. To me, old books smell like nasty crumbling leather, years of settled dust, a bit of wood pulp, and mildew.
New books, on the other hand, smell amazing…which I’m going to attribute to the vinyl acetate, and whatever chemicals are in the paper (especially shiny, good quality paper).
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