Foxing Heavy foxing on the title page of an 1832 textbook Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates, and on textiles like clothing and artists' canvasses. Should I Throw Away Books With Foxing? Choosing whether to throw away books with foxing, which causes spots on pages, is a common problem for book lovers. Foxing makes us think differently about the value of books, not just as objects, but as keepers of knowledge and history.
I just opened some old (3-4years) books that i hadn't even touched for a few years and am devastated to see that they've all become yellowed and have brown and dark yellow spots all over the pages, some covers and pages have these brown/black dots on them, looks like if you'd stab a page with the tip of your pen, where'd this come from? If you love books and try diligently to take care of them, it can be distressing to find that the pages of some of your classic collectibles no longer look pristine. You find you are downgrading their condition from good to fair, just because of the brown spots (also called foxing), yellowing, or browning over the pages.
Discover what foxing in books is, its causes, and how to prevent it in your collection to maintain their value and quality. Book leaves that are more brown and brittle along the edges than in the center clearly illustrate this absorption of pollutants from the air. Research by the Library of Congress has demonstrated that cellulose itself generates acids as it ages, including formic, acetic, lactic, and oxalic acids.
Archivists have long dealt with the problem of deteriorating books and papers. While processes developed in the 1930s and standardized in the 1980s make this issue less of a problem for newer volumes, the browning of pages in older books will continue to be both part of the charm and challenge of book collecting. Only when these impurities exist in the paper, given exposure to the right humidity and temperature factors, will foxing occur.
This process is intrinsic to the paper; some paper will never have the rusty, brown, yellow spots known as foxing. "As humans grow older, they often develop skin discolorations. Old books do, too, and it's called.
Books with foxing usually do NOT need to be sent to Preservation for that reason alone. We have mentioned foxing here. Have you ever wondered why paper turns brown with age.
In this blog post we aim to touch on this extensive subject, discussing internal and external contributing factors to give you an insight into the reasons why.