I recently had two exhibition catalogues returned by a new client (his first order).  He claimed that they had a musty odor and he did not want them to affect the rest of his library.  I suggested keeping them in a dry sunlit place for a few days, which he did, but he returned them
afterwards claiming that my suggestion did not work.  I found no traces of musty odor on the two items, nor could a customer who was visiting me at the time. 

    Nevertheless I would be interested in librarians' suggestions for removing musty or damp odors from books?  I bought a collection last summer from someone's basement and many of the items did indeed reek, though they were not dampstained or dampwrinkled.  I kept them  in sunlight for about two weeks and the smell was still present.  Any ideas?

    I had some good responses to my earlier query on removing bookplates and adhesive stickers from books and will share these responses along with a summary of what I find out about musty book odors if the membership is interested.
    Raymond Smith / R.W. Smith Bookseller