Wormholes in Old Books Preserve a History of Insects

Discover Magazine takes a look at the bugs that live in our books.

From the piece...

There’s no way of telling how old a particular hole is. Instead, Hedges looked at prints in actual books. Since the books bear their date and place of publication, Hedges could trace the provenance of each hole to a specific year and country.

He studied more than 3,200 such holes, made between 1462 and 1899. Those from northern Europe, including England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, were round, and just 1.4 millimetres wide on average. Those from southern Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and most of France, were larger, with average diameters of 2.3 millimetres. The southern holes also included many long tracks—these were made when the beetles, rather than burrowing straight out, exited from the wood in diagnonal paths that followed the grain.

An incredibly rare first edition of Jane Austen's novel Emma is tipped to sell for 200,000 pounds after being discovered.
The three volume presentation copy is the only one from the original print run of 12 known to exist today.
The literary legend requested that 11 of the books went to members of the Royal family, including the Prince Regent, and her own family.
The one that has now emerged for sale was gifted to Anne Sharp, a close friend of the novelist.
A clerk at the publishers was specifically instructed by Austen to pen the words 'from the author' on the title page of the book, which is still present today.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236080/Last-surviving-edition-copy-Jane-Austens-Emma-set-fetch-200-000-auction.html#ixzz2CrYGvXYp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

An incredibly rare first edition of Jane Austen's novel Emma is tipped to sell for 200,000 pounds after being discovered.
The three volume presentation copy is the only one from the original print run of 12 known to exist today.
The literary legend requested that 11 of the books went to members of the Royal family, including the Prince Regent, and her own family.
The one that has now emerged for sale was gifted to Anne Sharp, a close friend of the novelist.
A clerk at the publishers was specifically instructed by Austen to pen the words 'from the author' on the title page of the book, which is still present today.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236080/Last-surviving-edition-copy-Jane-Austens-Emma-set-fetch-200-000-auction.html#ixzz2CrYGvXYp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

An incredibly rare first edition of Jane Austen's novel Emma is tipped to sell for 200,000 pounds after being discovered.
The three volume presentation copy is the only one from the original print run of 12 known to exist today.
The literary legend requested that 11 of the books went to members of the Royal family, including the Prince Regent, and her own family.
The one that has now emerged for sale was gifted to Anne Sharp, a close friend of the novelist.
A clerk at the publishers was specifically instructed by Austen to pen the words 'from the author' on the title page of the book, which is still present today.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236080/Last-surviving-edition-copy-Jane-Austens-Emma-set-fetch-200-000-auction.html#ixzz2CrYGvXYp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

The only one from the original print run of 12 known to exist

The writer requested that 11 of the books went to members of the Royal family and her own family

Auction to be held at Sotheby's next month

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236080/Last-surviving-edition-copy-Jane-Austens-Emma-set-fetch-200-000-auction.html#ixzz2CrXrEvX6
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

The only one from the original print run of 12 known to exist

The writer requested that 11 of the books went to members of the Royal family and her own family

Auction to be held at Sotheby's next month

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236080/Last-surviving-edition-copy-Jane-Austens-Emma-set-fetch-200-000-auction.html#ixzz2CrXrEvX6
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook