In the age of the internet, there is an ongoing effort called the Gutenberg Project. This is a volunteer project to convert the printed word to digital copy. Of particular significance is that it also emphasizes the importance of antique books. The text is scanned by the owner and sent to the Project. Through an iterative process of verification the text
Another ongoing project is the Universal Library Project. Though it has the same aim as the Gutenberg Project, this is totally different in approach. It aims to convert the feel of the antique book into a digital copy, not only preserving the text but also what the page looks like, presenting the book as it appears, with discolored pages and blemishes included.
Preserving antique books is an ongoing race against time. Although older paper making techniques use archival (acid-free) paper, there are other challenges to keeping books readable. Mildew, insects and moisture are common causes for the paper to fade, dissolve and to disappear. Old paper becomes brittle and flakes to dust. Moisture could be from being exposed to the elements, from flooding or from rain through the roof, or from a fireman’s hose during a fire.
Antique books have been the domain of collectors who collect both for literary and for historical reasons. The above efforts are helping to preserve the historical significance of books. The contents of the antique book may be outdated, but the lore it presents and conveys is something else altogether. The language of Shakespeare would be archaic for modern readers, but the quality and lyric of the text is enduring.
I myself am not a collector. But the oldest book, and maybe the only antique book, I every had the pleasure of reading was an original copy of a book of poems by Walt Whitman. It’s in the college library. For all I know it’s still there, with the University not knowing they’ve got a priceless original hidden among the bookshelves. The library being a repository of knowledge, I would think that the University wouldn’t mind that an innocent college freshman would read from the book and allow Walt Whitman’s words and imagination to jump out from the printed page.
