Acid-Free paper in books

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I was going through some of my older books (10-15 years) and I was shocked by how many are turning brown. And these are books that have been kept away from ultra-violet light. Penguin and Vintage books seem to have the most acid paper (they brown the quickest).

Are publishers still using shitty, acidic paper in their books, especially paperbacks, or have they started using better paper? And is acid-free paper that much more expensive than acid paper? It irks me that I'm paying $20-$25 CAD for a paperback that is going to turn brown and brittle in a few years.

― Bigbluejerk, Thursday, 19 May 2005 04:44 (twenty years ago)

this might interest you - it shows the UK viewpoint - UK paperbacks tend to be even more horrible that North American ones.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,918485,00.html

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 19 May 2005 10:28 (twenty years ago)

tes

― eriv cart, Saturday, 21 May 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

did you know if you keep meat long enough you get maggots then you get flies

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 21 May 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

then malaria

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 21 May 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

that article is really interesting. I hate UK first editions for just this reason. why can't a find a non-UK hardback of Life: A User's Manual?

― kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 22 May 2005 02:25 (twenty years ago)

Uh... actually I've never seen one.

I'm a bit sad that I didn't buy a hardback copy of A Void when I had a chance, it was cheap but I thought "I already have the paperback!" But now most of my Perec is in hardcover and so I want it in hardcover.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 22 May 2005 07:30 (twenty years ago)

He was wrong at the time (and still is) about relative pricing though. British books are certainly of poorer quality, but they are now far cheaper than American books, something of a recent development.

― snotty moore, Sunday, 22 May 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

yes books are the one thing i can think of that are actually more expensive in North America, though that's partly because there's no VAT on books in the UK.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 23 May 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

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