# Gilding books
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 17, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499 "2007-05-17T19:05:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499/1 "2007-05-17T19:05:32Z")
Why are the edges of expensive or cherished books often gilded? My guess is that it’s one more way of making a book into a fancy work of art. But apart from that, is it helpful to the paper? Does it help preserve the pages? Gold is certainly a great metal for resisting and preventing corrosion.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499/2 "2007-05-17T23:05:36Z")
[Sez here](http://books.google.com/books?id=YF-w6gJ2WC4C&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=bookbinding+gilt+edges&source=web&ots=e0K-fWgL-o&sig=bGXa02nBt8BRkP-3fkfXY3UmHpY) (in a 1915 book on bookbinding):
> [@](#):
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> Publishers have long since recognized that gilt edges frequently enhance the value of cheap bindings and make the book attractive to the intending purchaser. Defects in the paper can be hidden, and it is the saving grace when publishers are compelled to accept two shades of paper in the same book.
So while I kind of doubt that edge-gilding has any practical purpose in terms of physically preserving the book, it is definitely useful for making a book look like more of a luxury item than it is, as well as providing an elegant detail on books that really are luxury items.
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499/3 "2007-05-18T01:42:29Z")
Funny. Something I thought made it fancy is really to disguise cheap quality.
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### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gilding-books/404499/4 "2007-05-18T01:55:05Z")
Several years ago when I worked in a used book store, I was told by a rare book dealer that gilding made books less attractive to vermin such as silverfish and book lice. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but I thought I’d pass it along.