# Why do old book bindings mostly appear red? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311 "2023-12-29T13:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/1 "2023-12-29T13:52:40Z")
So we went on a tour of the Library of Congress and in one wing they had Thomas Jefferson’s old library. From their website: _"By 1814 when the British burned the nation’s Capitol and the Library of Congress, Jefferson had acquired the largest personal collection of books in the United States. Jefferson offered to sell his library to Congress as a replacement for the collection destroyed by the British during the War of 1812. Congress purchased Jefferson’s library for $23,950 in 1815. A second fire on Christmas Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson._ _Through a generous grant from Jerry and Gene Jones, the Library of Congress is attempting to reassemble Jefferson’s library as it was sold to Congress."_ One thing struck me when I saw it. The colors of the bindings all had a very similar [red hue](https://i0.wp.com/www.kidfriendlydc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/loc_thomas_jefferson.jpg). My guess was that many of them used a similar chemical for some particular reason (strength, prevent decay, insect repellant?). Does anyone have a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/2 "2023-12-29T15:21:40Z")
WAG: Either they are mostly from the same publisher that happens to bind books like that or something to do with this: > **[Morocco leather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco_leather?useskin=vector)** > > Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maroquin, Turkey, or German Saffian from Safi, a Moroccan town famous for leather) is a vegetable-tanned leather known for its softness, pliability, and ability to take colour. It has been widely used in the manufacture of gloves and the uppers of ladies' shoes and men's low cut shoes, but is commonly associated with wallets, linings for fine luggage, and bookbindings. > Despite its name, Morocco was typically not the original source of the leather... > Morocco leather is practically always dyed, traditionally most often red or black… And I don’t know if this is in any way related, but it’s what lead me to the above wiki page: > **[About the Red Books](https://www.themorgan.org/collection/Humphry-Reptons-Red-Books/About-the-Red-Books)** > > Repton presented his advice to his clients in the form of Red Books, a term referring to their characteristic red morocco bindings. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/3 "2023-12-29T16:16:44Z")
In the eighteenth century the leather used for bookbinding was usually dyed, with red being one of the more common colours. ‘Morocco’ leather was popular precisely because it dyed easily. Even old book covers you think are just natural leather will usually have been dyed brown. The style of the binding was usually decided by the owner. Most books were sold with temporary covers, in the expectation that the purchaser would have them bound according to their own preferences and budget. Owners could therefore have all their books bound in a single style to look more impressive when shelved together. But Jefferson’s collection isn’t like that. For one thing, what the Library of Congress displays is a mixture of books he actually owned and books from other sources replacing lost copies known to have been owned by him. [What’s more, his collection probably never had uniform bindings](https://bookbindersmuseum.org/the-18th-century-thomas-jefferson-and-book-binding/). ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/4 "2023-12-29T19:14:26Z")
The old book bindings I have seen are mostly black or brown–red is a minority. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/5 "2023-12-29T20:42:46Z")
[Any photo of an old library](https://photos.com/featured/1-old-books-on-a-library-luoman.html) will show the diversity of colours on offer. As others have suggested, if Jefferson’s books are predominantly red, then that’s because he or someone went for red as their preferred colour. Jefferson or one of his minions would have been working on creating their library as not just a collection but a designed space that showed off their learning, wealth and power to Important Visitors. You don’t get that by inviting the Prussian Ambassador to have sherry in what looks like Bargain Day at Bookmart. PS Its a good thing those books are behind glass. I know I’d be very tempted to lick and nibble the bindings, and red leather dye is particularly full of lead. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/6 "2024-01-01T17:32:44Z")
I have a large book from the mid 1700s and it is dark brown. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/7 "2024-01-01T17:37:02Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I know I’d be very tempted to lick and nibble the bindings Is that a thing people do? Or a personal fetish? Not trying to kink shame or anything, just genuinely curious. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/8 "2024-01-01T17:37:47Z")
Most old books I’ve seen in my appraisal days had various shades of brown binding. Some others, but largely brown. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/9 "2024-01-01T19:22:10Z")
I have a few old bound books of various browns. A black one I have is pitted looking and flakey. The big fat red book is poetry from various old lesser known poets and if you hold it long enough the color gets on your hands. I think it must’ve been personal preference to have red books in a library. I bet it looked nice with dark wood and blue wall hangings ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/10 "2024-01-01T19:51:20Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > > [@Banksiaman](#): > > > > I know I’d be very tempted to lick and nibble the bindings > > Is that a thing people do? Or a personal fetish? > > Not trying to kink shame or anything, just genuinely curious. I’m sure there are, but in my case it was a joke. Leather bindings were made using things we should never ingest. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/11 "2024-01-01T21:07:30Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I know I’d be very tempted to lick and nibble the bindings > **[Do You Have Toxic Bookcloth in Your Library? | Identifying Emerald Green..](https://blog.papercraftpanda.com/do-you-have-poisonous-emerald-green-toxic-bookcloth-in-your-library/)** > > 19th century toxic bookcloth in an emerald green color may contain dangerous levels of arsenic. Learn how to identify and safely store these.. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/12 "2024-01-02T14:51:20Z")
Thanks everyone for the responses! ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-book-bindings-mostly-appear-red/995311/13 "2024-01-02T15:54:21Z")
> [@APB](#): > > In the eighteenth century the leather used for bookbinding was usually dyed, with red being one of the more common colours. ‘Morocco’ leather was popular precisely because it dyed easily. As Hope and Crosby sang, “Like Webster’s Dictionary, we’re Morocco bound.”