seeking information about a very old book

November 6, 2019 5:37 AM

Look at this old book. I know nothing about it. It could be 1,000 years old. It could be a stage prop from 1987. Can you tell me anything about it? Thanks!
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

The raised gold paint is, I think, very contemporary: last 25 years or so?
posted by tmdonahue at 5:44 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

honestly doesn't look that old to me.

Are there any photos of it opened up?
posted by dis_integration at 5:55 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

My first impression is that it is a recently-made item designed to look old -- the paper inside doesn't look like what old paper should look like. I agree -- pictures of the interior, please, with closeups of the text inside to evaluate ink and printing method.
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:59 AM on November 6, 2019

Response by poster: I added photos of inner pages here and here
dis_integration, I agree; the more I look at it, the more I think it's something made to look old, and not very successfully.
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon at 6:00 AM on November 6, 2019

Response by poster: AzraelBrown: It isn't paper; all the pages are leather.
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon at 6:01 AM on November 6, 2019

Yeah, that's definitely a stage prop from 1987. The raised gold paint on the cover is one of the main giveaways.
posted by LeeLanded at 6:02 AM on November 6, 2019

Are all the interior pages written that puffy gold stuff? Here's some info on the use of leather as a writing surface, which also lends to a modern reproduction.

That's a relatively small number of characters per page; I'd like to know what someone who reads Hebrew thinks is written in there.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:06 AM on November 6, 2019

Response by poster: Yes, all the writing is in the gold. Another giveaway is that the interior pages are dirtier than the exterior, which obviously wouldn't be the case if this were a genuine antiquity.
I'm guessing this is the production of a Harry Potter fan or cosplay event or something similar.
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon at 6:11 AM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

We made a book quite like that for my daughter's eighth-grade history fair project. It was pretty authentic-looking!

But yeah, I don't think it's old. It may be very sincere as a made object, but not antique.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:17 AM on November 6, 2019

Take it an antiquarian bookseller, they'll be able to tell you about it, likely at no charge. Buy something while you're there.
posted by theora55 at 7:41 AM on November 6, 2019

That indeed looks like dimensional fabric paint a.k.a. puff/puffy/Tulip paint, which dates back only to the middle 1980s.
posted by jocelmeow at 9:12 AM on November 6, 2019