October 20, 2005

The Smell of a Good Book

Rediscovered this September article today.

Lawrence's sweet-smelling Ulysses is unusually evocative because it "speaks" to the human sense most closely associated with memory. That association copy is truly associative, relating a story not only about Lawrence, as it turns out, but about other readers as well. Although the olfactory element is rare, most books in special collections have their tales to tell, their sweet smell of provenance.

Posted by Bobby Farouk at October 20, 2005 11:18 AM
Comments

When I first got them, I loved the smell of the Edward Tufte books published by Graphics Press.

Posted by: Kendall at October 21, 2005 08:06 AM

Edward Tufte's books are very fine books indeed. The prints are gorgeous.

Posted by: Alan Hogue at October 21, 2005 09:20 AM

I don't possess a sense of smell, so I find the subject fascinating.

Posted by: Bobby Farouk at October 21, 2005 10:16 AM

Have you ever had to cut the pages on a book? It's not quite the same as smelling one, but has the same sort of wrong-sense queerness.

I've only had to cut pages on one book, and still remember the setting. It's probably good that it's a rare experience, though, as I imagine it would get pretty annoying.

Posted by: Ben Brumfield at October 22, 2005 08:50 AM