Poisonous books that turned several German libraries upside down

At least six German universities They closed their libraries carefully analyze their names in search of books are poisoned with arsenic. This could be the current sequel Rose namebut this is not a novel, but pure reality.

The first university to announce this measure was Bielefeldbut later others, as famous as Dusseldorf. They are all afraid of finding among their old books books with covers and pages decorated with what in the past was called Paris green or emerald green.. It is a pigment that was also used for other purposes such as dyeing clothes or making paints for paintings. There was no doubt that it had a beautiful hue, but the problem was that it was imparted by arsenic, an element that had been used as a poison for thousands of years.

And this is not surprising, because it has very high toxicity. Just 0.18 grams can kill an adult. Lower doses may not be fatal in the short term, but their accumulation causes increasingly severe symptoms, and there comes a point when there is no turning back. Therefore, it is important to find these poisoned books to keep them safe, and what happened in Rose name don’t become one real life story.

Arsenic: the poison of emperors

Although it may seem counterintuitive, arsenic is an element necessary for life. It occurs naturally in meat, fish, vegetables and grains, so your normal diet can easily meet the recommended dose of 12 to 15 micrograms per day.

Now, as with many substances, while a very low dose can be life-saving, a much higher dose can cause death. Arsenic is extremely toxictherefore it was used as poison.

It’s impossible to know for sure, but arsenic is believed to have contributed to Nero’s rise as Emperor of Rome in the first century AD. His predecessor was Claudius, uncle and husband of Agrippina, Nero’s mother. It did Claudio great uncle and stepfather of Nero. This complicated relationship aside, the fact is that Agrippina wanted her son to become Emperor of Rome, so she had to get rid of Claudius. They say that for this purpose he hired Locustaa Gallic woman known throughout Rome as an expert on poisons.

The woman poisoned Claudio with a mushroom dish, which led to his slow death, aggravated by serious digestive problems. Today it is believed that the poison used was probably arsenic. Its role as a poison was not widely known to the population, but it was known among experts, such as the dangerous locust.

The controversial case of Napoleon

Many centuries later, arsenic may have caused the death of another great emperor: Napoleon Bonaparte.

When a Frenchman died while exiled on St. Helena, two possible causes of death were found. On the one hand, it was clear that he was suffering from an advanced stage of stomach cancer. However, very high concentrations of arsenic were also found in them. hair.

Hair is a good indicator of toxic intake and is often analyzed during autopsies. And in this case there was no doubt that Napoleon was exposed to the said poison. There was a suspicion that someone wanted to poison him. Of course, there was no shortage of candidates. However, over time it was discovered that he had been exposed to arsenic due to to paint walls from his home in Santa Helena. It was made up of copper arsenite, a pigment containing arsenic and which could therefore slowly poison the former emperor. One of the consequences of long-term exposure to arsenic is cancer. Perhaps the tumor that killed him was due to poisoning. Or maybe not. We can’t know for sure.

Books poisoned with arsenic: Rose name At the moment

In the plot Rose name, several monks suspiciously drop dead without knowing the reasons. It is eventually revealed that they were poisoned by another monk who placed arsenic in page edges library books. Since the monks wet their fingers with saliva while turning the pages, they themselves were poisoned.

But the poisoned books in German libraries have nothing to do with fiction. In fact, this is not the first time something like this has come to light.

In 2018, two researchers discovered three books poisoned with arsenic in the library of one of the researchers. Danish university. These volumes were written in the 16th and 17th centuries, and their deadly flavor was discovered by accident. It is known that at that time some bookbinders processed medieval manuscripts make book covers. For this reason, these researchers wanted to analyze the manuscripts used. Unfortunately, the green patina made the material on the covers difficult to see. So they underwent X-ray analysis to see what was underneath. His surprise was that this paint was not actually such a thing as the patina of arsenic. They looked at the poisoned books, as if in Rose name.

It was originally thought that they could be painted Green Paris. However, this would be strange, since this paint was mainly used in the first half of the 19th century. Finally, it was concluded that it could be used to prevent insects and rodents damaged books stored in the library. Be that as it may, these were dangerous objects, so they were removed from the premises where any student could consult them.

Dangerous directory

Shortly thereafter, in 2022, an ancient book conservation expert from the University of Delaware, Melissa Tedone, launched a project aimed at finding and cataloging as many books poisoned by arsenic as possible. At the time of writing, they had already been found. 229 books in libraries around the world. Even at a local store.

What is happening in Germany with poisoned books?

Thus, the case of poisoned books in Germany is not something new. Given the discovery of individual cases, it was decided to analyze all suspicious books in order to avoid incidents.

Thousands of items were quarantined while they were analyzed. Most of those found contained arsenic with decorative purposes. Therefore, they usually come from the 19th century, when green Paris was in great bloom. German library associations have reassured students who may have come into contact with these books, arguing that isolated contact with them would not be fatal, but that prevention was better. For this reason, they began this exhaustive search, which shows us that even the most convoluted plot of a novel can be found in real life.