Sable Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 I'm off to pick up a pristine set of free 1963 Encyclopedia Britannica. A member of my club makes and sells wonderful Bookboxes and my husband always wanted one made up as an elegant office space. I will have her cut them out but I will finish the interior. Here is a sample of her work: http://www.shannonsminis.com/avboxes.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 How fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Did I write pristine? The books are but they are musty smelling. What has worked for me in the past is to freeze them for a few days in the garage freezer and then lay them out in the sun. Hopefully this will take care of the smell. If not, they are trash. It's a beautiful set though. My son helped me carry them. I told him that these were the first Google. Opened a few up and they have marvelous inserts. The velum anatomy inserts blew him away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Oh, I hope you can conquer the musty smell. This sounds like a terrific project, and with your talent and skill, it will be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 2 hours ago, Sable said: Did I write pristine? The books are but they are musty smelling. What has worked for me in the past is to freeze them for a few days in the garage freezer and then lay them out in the sun. Hopefully this will take care of the smell. If not, they are trash. It's a beautiful set though. My son helped me carry them. I told him that these were the first Google. Opened a few up and they have marvelous inserts. The velum anatomy inserts blew him away. Do not trash them until you have set them for a few days in a plastic bag with a couple of scoops of activated charcoal from the aquarium section of your local big box pet shop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 And read them first. ( lol ) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 I would also carefully remove those lovely vellum inserts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 16 hours ago, Elsbeth said: And read them first. ( lol ) That is hysterical! When I was young my mother would buy the World Book Encyclopedia from the grocery store, we couldn't afford the Britannicas. I used them for every research paper. I was always reading them. Nothing like these Britannicas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 3 hours ago, havanaholly said: I would also carefully remove those lovely vellum inserts! I agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Sable said: That is hysterical! When I was young my mother would buy the World Book Encyclopedia from the grocery store, we couldn't afford the Brittanicas. I used them for every research paper. I was always reading them. Nothing like these Brittanicas. Same here! World book all the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Our encyclopedia subscription was purchased from one of the high school teachers who was moonlighting. I don't recall which encyclopedia it was. I also don't recall opening them very often. They were wonderful for the base of the walls when we took all of Mom's hardback books off the shelves to build a fort in the middle of the living room on rainy days. We didn't have much disposable income available for books. I think Mom subscribed to the encyclopedias for us kids in an effort to justify her own book club memberships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 A set of encyclopedias was my "big" gift from Santa one year. That's pretty much the only thing I remember really wanting and asking for as a kid. And yes, I did read them. I actually still have them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I have a set of Encyclopedia Britannica from 1903. They were my grandfather's and I wouldn't cut them up for anything! I still take them out and read them once in a while. It is interesting to see what they thought of the world back then. If I ever run across newer ones I would like to try a room box. Until then, I will just be satisfied to snuggle up with my cat and read the old ones. G 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shy Spirit Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I once bought a set of children's books from the fifties as part of a baby shower present. They were incredibly musty, and I tried the sunlight, airing them out, etc. Finally I put them into a large plastic tote, with a big bowl of baking soda. It's important that the container you use is airtight. The tote had a snugly fitted lid. I stood the books on end, with their pages somewhat open. Every day I stirred the soda in the bowl, and every few days I replaced it with fresh baking soda. I made the mistake of sniffing an old bowl - and got a noseful of concentrated MUSTY for my trouble! It worked beautifully. The books were fresh and clean-smelling, in under two weeks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimble Hall Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Half a dozen Bounce pads will take the smell out too. We did that with a huge sheepskin picked up at a thrift store, it was very clean and white but smelly, we left it about 3 months and there was no smell at all after that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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