What happened to my dust jacket?

>>I recently took a book I own down from a shelf where it has been for about
>>>25 years. The book is still in like-new condition. The dustjacket is
>>>likewise in excellent condition EXCEPT for the fact that the spine and the
>>>lower right side of the front look like they have been badly scrapped; the
>>>colorful picture has been ruined with blotches where it has been removed.
>>>There are also some "pinholes" in the scrapped area. No other books on the
>>>shelf seem to have this damage. Any ideas on what could have caused this?
>>>A fungus? An insect? Something else?
>
>
> Silverfish, I think they're called? Little slinky silver insects
> about a centimeter long or less, that chew/erode paper. I hate
> 'em. Squash 'em whenever I see them.
>
> Though if it was them, that doesn't explain why none of your
> other stuff got chewed.
>
> -Allison
>

I doubt it was silverfish. I've never heard of them bothering
books, and they like moisture. Might be bookworms -- little tiny
buggers that tunnel right through books like Chunnel boring
machines. They leave small holes.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 05:11:45 GMT, Al Smith <invalid.RemoveThis@address.com>
wrote:

>I doubt it was silverfish. I've never heard of them bothering
>books, and they like moisture. Might be bookworms -- little tiny
>buggers that tunnel right through books like Chunnel boring
>machines. They leave small holes.

I live in Virginia, where silverfish are rampant. They *love* books,
and anything else that uses paper and glue.

Without seeing the actual damage to your book, I can't say for
certain, but it sounds to me like silverfish damage.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

Semonerc.RemoveThis@starpower.net (ron semone) wrote:
I recently took a book I own down from a shelf where it has been for
about 25 years. The book is still in like-new condition. The dustjacket
is likewise in excellent condition EXCEPT for the fact that the spine
and the lower right side of the front look like they have been badly
scrapped; the colorful picture has been ruined with blotches where it
has been removed. There are also some "pinholes" in the scrapped area.
No other books on the shelf seem to have this damage. Any ideas on what
could have caused this? A fungus? An insect? Something else?

Ron,

No other books on the shelf had this damage? It is possible that your
book was browsed by an educated silverfish. What was the title of the
book?

Some silverfish, and other book vermin as well, ignore the written word,
however, but are attracted by colorful pictures, especially well-red
ones.

I know of at least one bookworm who found religion. Yes siree, Lord!
Sometime in the last two-hundred and fifty years this bookworm bore
several holes through my copy of the third volume of Joseph Hall's
Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testament,
Edinburgh,1749. This bookworm had good taste. Joseph Hall was one hell
of a writer.

I gave this bookworm its Last Rites, by placing the book in a plastic
bag and depositing it in the freezer for three days.

Jerry Morris,
book vermin exterminator


Welcome to Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
My Sentimental Library http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary and
moislibrary.com http://www.tinyurl.com/hisn
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 05:11:45 GMT, Al Smith <invalid.RemoveThis@address.com> wrote:

>I doubt it was silverfish.

Sounds very much like silverfish.

They're not big on paper, but they love cellulose. So their favoured
foodstuffs are glues, followed by starchy glazes used on shiny papers,
like dustjackets.

They'll often attack one book and ignore an adjacent one, just because
the bindings are different.

Cute little things to watch running though - shame they're so damaging
AND SO THEY ALL MUST DIE!!!
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

"Andy Dingley" <dingbat.RemoveThis@codesmiths.com> wrote in message
news:gi9qb1dpkqf06n8qsp06fqvts4o46g5tpq@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 05:11:45 GMT, Al Smith <invalid.RemoveThis@address.com> wrote:
>
> >I doubt it was silverfish.
>
> Sounds very much like silverfish.
>
> They're not big on paper, but they love cellulose.

....

Er, don't like to be picky but...


Properties of Paper

Permanence - For permanence, the fibers must be as pure cellulose
as possible. Cotton is 100% cellulose, whether rags or linters.
Wood pulp varies in cellulose content but high alpha wood pulp can
be 93% cellulose, almost as pure as cotton

http://www.cpsa.org/PRODUCT_RESEARCH/PaperMaking.html



michael adams

....
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

"Allison Turner-" <betonica.DeleteThis@sover.net> wrote in message
news:d9ie5g0722@drn.newsguy.com...
> on Fri, 24 Jun 2005 15:49:52 -0400, ron semone stated:
> >
> >I recently took a book I own down from a shelf where it has been for
about
> >25 years. The book is still in like-new condition. The dustjacket is
> >likewise in excellent condition EXCEPT for the fact that the spine and
the
> >lower right side of the front look like they have been badly scrapped;
the
> >colorful picture has been ruined with blotches where it has been removed.
> >There are also some "pinholes" in the scrapped area. No other books on
the
> >shelf seem to have this damage. Any ideas on what could have caused
this?
> >A fungus? An insect? Something else?
>
> Silverfish, I think they're called? Little slinky silver insects
> about a centimeter long or less, that chew/erode paper. I hate
> 'em. Squash 'em whenever I see them.


The silverfish or lepismatidae, are one of the oldest surviving
life-forms on the planet to have maintained their original form.
Judging by the fossil record at least. Having first evolved it's
believed, over 400 million years ago.

How fitting it is ,that the human race, during the last throes of
its 1.8 million year quest to turn the Earth into a toxic, irradiated
wasteland, before bringing about its own inevitable extinction,
should see fit provide concentrated sources of foodstuffs, to see our
little silver friends through their next 400 million years of
stewardship of the Earth.

Evolution indeed.



michael adams





>
> -Allison
>
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 12:14:50 +0100, "michael adams"
<mjadams28 RemoveThis @onetel.com> wrote:

>Er, don't like to be picky but...

Why not be picky - the silverfish are.

Paper has a lot more in it than cellulose. In particular, paper from
wood pulp contains lignin (browning and acid problems passim).
Silverfish just don't like it. It's also harder to digest, so they go
for the more easily digested forms first.

If you have a range of papers available for silverfish, they'll often go
for art materials before book paper. I've never seen them attack modern
paperbacks (high wood pulp content).

If you have an enormous infestation, and there's not much else to eat,
then of course there's a risk they'll start on the paper. But if you
have this _preferential_ attack, particularly where something is going
for paste (not protein glues) out of bindings and leaving the text block
undamaged, then odds on it's silverfish.

You really don't want to have silverfish anywhere near old Japanese
prints or bindings, especially calligraphy or similar where paper has
been pasted to fabric. That's a whole world of bug damage, far worse
than anything they'll do to a typical western library.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 09:41:17 -0400, notjerryandlinda RemoveThis @webtv.net (Jerry
Morris) wrote:

>Sometime in the last two-hundred and fifty years this bookworm bore
>several holes through my copy of the third volume of Joseph Hall's
>Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testament,
>Edinburgh,1749. This bookworm had good taste.

I've got some pages from a mid-19thC chromolithograph bible. Bookworms
(unknown species) have munched all over the colour plates, _except_ for
the green pigment areas. I suspect it's Scheele's green, or something
equally noxious.


--
Cheer up ! - You could be at Glastonbury
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 12:44:43 +0100, "michael adams"
<mjadams28.RemoveThis@onetel.com> wrote:

>our little silver friends

They're actually black (most of them). The "silver" effect is just a
shimmer as they move. They almost look like they change colour from
moving to standing still.

Cute little bastards.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

Jerry Morris wrote:

> I gave this bookworm its Last Rites, by placing the book in a plastic
> bag and depositing it in the freezer for three days.
>
> Jerry Morris,
> book vermin exterminator

I sure hope when you went back, you didn't find the freezer door open, the
cat paralyzed, and the silverfish missing with nothing but a mysterious
outline of its image on the side of a White Castle box...
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

>>I doubt it was silverfish.
>
>
> Sounds very much like silverfish.
>
> They're not big on paper, but they love cellulose. So their favoured
> foodstuffs are glues, followed by starchy glazes used on shiny papers,
> like dustjackets.

OK, well, I learn something new. I've never seen silverfish attack
books before.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

>>Silverfish, I think they're called? Little slinky silver insects
>>> about a centimeter long or less, that chew/erode paper. I hate
>>> 'em. Squash 'em whenever I see them.
>
>
>
> The silverfish or lepismatidae, are one of the oldest surviving
> life-forms on the planet to have maintained their original form.
> Judging by the fossil record at least. Having first evolved it's
> believed, over 400 million years ago.
>
> How fitting it is ,that the human race, during the last throes of
> its 1.8 million year quest to turn the Earth into a toxic, irradiated
> wasteland, before bringing about its own inevitable extinction,
> should see fit provide concentrated sources of foodstuffs, to see our
> little silver friends through their next 400 million years of
> stewardship of the Earth.
>
> Evolution indeed.
>
>
>
> michael adams

I've said it many times, insects rule the world. Anyone who
doesn't think so isn't very observant. They cover every square
foot of ground, every tree, every rock. They're in the water, the
air, the dirt. Doesn't matter how we try to kill them, they bounce
right back. If somehow they acquired intelligence and attacked the
human race, we'd be wiped out within a matter of hours. Yet
nothing we can do will ever exterminate them. When the human race
is gone, they'll still be here, unchanged.
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket? 

Al Smith wrote:

>
> I've said it many times, insects rule the world. Anyone who doesn't
> think so isn't very observant. They cover every square foot of ground,
> every tree, every rock. They're in the water, the air, the dirt. Doesn't
> matter how we try to kill them, they bounce right back. If somehow they
> acquired intelligence and attacked the human race, we'd be wiped out
> within a matter of hours. Yet nothing we can do will ever exterminate
> them. When the human race is gone, they'll still be here, unchanged.


In reading "Enemy at the Gates: The Battle of Stalingrad" by Wm. Craig, I was
astonished at the overwhelming presence of lice. One soldier had his arm put in
plaster only to watch hordes of lice squeezing in under the plaster to his arm.
It almost seemed that there were more lice on the battlefield during the
fighting than before it.


Francis A. Miniter
 >> Stay informed about: What happened to my dust jacket?