Arsenic In Old Books
We think of “green” as meaning natural, healthy, life-giving like plants. Well, not always. Arsenic is the primary ingredient in something very green, a pigment known as Emerald Green or Paris Green. In its Emerald Green incarnation it is a vivid green pigment, a bright and attractive color used for coloring things such as wallpaper and paint. The latter includes paintings, with artists such as Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh having used it. It has also been used in book covers. In its incarnation as Paris Green it has a very different use, and this is the one most often associated with...