550 



EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



moreover, that the l)ook,s mold because the building was occupied too 

 soon and is not yet dry. Everywhere, even in the small workroom 

 of the librarian, it smelled musty and gave the impression that the 



building is damp. I at- 

 tribute the molding to 

 this, and it may require 

 3^ears before the building 

 will be thoroughly dried 

 out in the moist English 

 climate. In addition, the 

 cases are so built in that 

 it is impossible to pro- 

 vide air holes for them, 

 but at all events it is 

 important to definitely 

 decide whether books 

 are damaged in securely 

 closed cabinets. 1 took 

 occasion to incjuire about 

 this in the Li bra r}^ Sainte 

 Genevieve in Paris (see 

 p. 594) Avhere 1 found 

 the valua1)le incunabula, 

 Aldines and P^lzevirs 

 in cases, ])ut there the 

 opinion is that the ])ooks 

 are not injured by being- 

 kept in this manner. The 

 wooden cases, however, 

 do not close so tightly, 

 and the library is 50 years 

 old; furth(U'more, Paris 

 is not as moist as Man- 

 chester, In the nuiseum 

 under ni}" care we have 

 had books since 1897 in 

 air-tight iron cases, which 

 give not the least indica- 

 tion of damage up to the 

 present time. A number 

 of experienced librarians 

 whom I have asked, state as their opinion that a book is not damaged 

 ])y being kept in an air-tight case unless the book be a freshly bound 

 one, in which case it should be dried out for from one to two years 

 before it is stored in this manner; yet, in the John Ry lands Library 



