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Eireika t1_ixyjslf wrote

Reply to comment by Jack-Campin in help! how to disinfect old books? by robotapricot

There was a stir in my Uni when someone donated XIX century book with envelope containing something that resembled dried smallpox blisters.

OP, if you are so nervous there's an option- large libraries and archives taking care of old books offer fumigation- but it's not a cheap thing. I paid over 100$ for one bath

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Jack-Campin t1_ixykrth wrote

I used to visit car boot sales regularly. Never saw a book that looked like a menace, but did spot a couple of odd things. One was a clear plastic envelope labelled in English and Greek, "do not open or touch the contents" - it was a dried scorpion. The other was from the 1930s - a radium-boned corset in its original packet:

https://underpinningsmuseum.com/author/lorraine-smith/upmtc-the-curious-history-of-radioactive-corsets-by-lucy-jane-santos/

You have to wonder if anybody ever tried that to make books you could read in the dark.

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