Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
There is a dark secret on our bookshelves. Infused in the green cloth binding of the innocently named “The English Flower Garden” is poisonous arsenic!
In the 19th Century, new chemical processes produced copper acetoarsenite also known as Emerald green dye. Despite the dangers, this brilliantly vibrant green became popular with the Victorians in wallpaper, dresses and books.
The Winterthur Poison Book Project suggests you look out for 4 telltale signs in cloth bound books:
1) The colour: vibrant green for book cloth on boards or minty green matte for paper bindings. They look very different from regular green books, they look practically fluorescent!
2) Decoration: gold and/or blind stamped for cloth bound. They didn’t use something as vibrant as arsenic cloth on regular old books, they usually come with elaborate decorations on the cover!
3) Imprint: English or American for cloth bound and German or French for paper bound
4) Date: most commonly used in the 1840s- 1860s for cloth bound and 1830s – 1860s for paper bindings
While we have not had our book chemically analysed, it fits all four of these signs!
Reference: K5402
wellcome.info/arsenic-book
There is a dark secret on our bookshelves. Infused in the green cloth binding of the innocently named “The English Flower Garden” is poisonous arsenic!
In the 19th Century, new chemical processes produced copper acetoarsenite also known as Emerald green dye. Despite the dangers, this brilliantly vibrant green became popular with the Victorians in wallpaper, dresses and books.
The Winterthur Poison Book Project suggests you look out for 4 telltale signs in cloth bound books:
1) The colour: vibrant green for book cloth on boards or minty green matte for paper bindings. They look very different from regular green books, they look practically fluorescent!
2) Decoration: gold and/or blind stamped for cloth bound. They didn’t use something as vibrant as arsenic cloth on regular old books, they usually come with elaborate decorations on the cover!
3) Imprint: English or American for cloth bound and German or French for paper bound
4) Date: most commonly used in the 1840s- 1860s for cloth bound and 1830s – 1860s for paper bindings
While we have not had our book chemically analysed, it fits all four of these signs!
Reference: K5402
wellcome.info/arsenic-book
