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Why is nobody talking about acid-free endpapers when selling old books?
Picked up a 1928 poetry book at an estate sale last month, the endpapers were already brown and brittle after 95 years. The seller never mentioned it once, just talked up the binding. Has anyone else had buyers get burned by this, or is it just assumed we all check before we buy?
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jana_scott11d ago
Endpapers are the first thing I check on any book from before 1950, you can't trust sellers to mention it. Brown and brittle means the paper was made with acid in the pulp, and there's no fixing it once it starts. For that 1928 book, you can slow it down with a dry, cool spot and acid-free tissue between the covers, but the damage is already done. Sellers rarely bring it up because they know it drops the value, so it's on us to look before we hand over cash. I've walked away from plenty of nice bindings when the endpapers were going, it's just not worth the headache later.
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