Arsenical Books Database

This growing list of known arsenical green bookbindings was initially based on emerald green, cloth-bound books discovered by the Poison Book Project. However, as analytical testing continues and other institutions contribute data, we have expanded the scope of the list to include any mass-produced, nineteenth-century (1800s) bookbinding that contains an arsenical green component. The only exceptions are the first two volumes of the series Caroli a Linne Species Plantarum (1797 and 1799), along with the ensuing four volumes that were published during the early nineteenth century. All of these volumes were found by Queen’s University Library to have emerald green decoration on their textblock edges.

Please note that while the use of potentially toxic artist pigments in book illustrations is well known, this database does not list illustrations within the textblock. This list tracks the use of heavy metal pigments in the binding components specifically. These components may include bookcloth, paper wrapping or covering, endpapers, paper labels or onlays, leather onlays, and textblock edges.