Smell of Heritage: The Historic Book Odour Wheel

Matija Strlič and Cecilia Bembibre discuss the cultural significance of odours. ‘If you enter a museum or gallery and you look at a painting, you are reduced to a visual experience’ – Matija Strlič. Matija and Cecilia co-authored a paper earlier this year, looking into the heritage of smell. Together, they have developed an ‘odour wheel’ which documents smell following the analysis of chemicals released from old parchment/paper.  After analysing VOCs, they contextualised their information from a sensory analysis of words given by subjects who were asked to smell various historical books. They both point out that smell is just as important as vision when it comes to cultural experience and it is these aromas that add to the whole experience. Our perception of cultural heritage is moulded largely by all of our senses and as Matija perfectly puts it, ‘on entering the Wren Library, you are hit by this smell of history’. On arrival, you are immediately transported back to the late 18th century. One only has to take a look around the chamber to feel like they are truly witnessing history as the largely unchanged library still looks exactly how it did in old illustrations. Taking in the sights, sounds… and smell. The librarian hands over a book, ‘the book itself is older than the binding’ he states. its tinted pages sit delicately within the 19th-century binding. The book in question, possibly 18th century, exudes a marvellous fragrance, possi...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs