“If a book is new, it smells great. If a book is old, it smells even better”*…
It’s official. Science has decided that old books smell “smoky,” “earthy,” and more than anything, “woody.”
That’s based on findings released today by Cecilia Bembibre and Matija Strlič, researchers at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, who have been working to capture, analyze, and catalog historic and culturally important scents. The scientists collected the responses of visitors to St Paul’s Cathedral’s Dean and Chapter library in London, asking them to describe the smell and later compiling the results in a document they’re calling the Historic Book Odour Wheel…
Take a whiff at “The Odor ‘Wheel’ Decoding the Smell of Old Books.”
* Ray Bradbury
###
As we breathe it in, we might recall that it was on this date in 1749 that George Frideric Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks— or Fireworks Music, as it’s commonly known — premiered in a specially-constructed theater in St. James park in London.
The display was not as successful as the music itself: the weather was rainy, and in the middle of the show the pavilion caught fire.
The ill-fated site of the premiere