Old Book Smell

It turns out there's a scientific explanation for that used bookstore smell. The answer comes from the book Perfumes: The Guide (via the Paper Cuts blog).

Authors Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez say, "Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units that are closely related to vanillin. When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which is how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good-quality vanilla absolute."

Now you knows.--David E