The Smell of Old Paper

Every used bookstore smells the same, and nobody who loves them can quite describe it. Vanilla, people say. Dust. Rain on a wool coat. A library that has been shut up for the weekend.

The real answer is chemistry. As paper ages, compounds in it slowly break down and give off a faint scent, some of it close to vanilla. Old books are, very slowly, turning into perfume. I find this enormously comforting. It means the smell is not just nostalgia. It is the books themselves, still doing something long after anyone has read them.