Foxing

For the music group, see Foxing (band).
Heavy foxing on the title page of an 1832 textbook

Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on old paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates. The name may be a variant form of the English West country dialect term foust and Scots foze, to become moldy.[1] Alternatively, it may derive from the fox-like reddish-brown color of the stains,[2]. Paper so affected is said to be "foxed".

Foxing is seldom found in incunabula, or books printed before 1501.[3] Decrease in rag fibre quality may be a culprit; as demand for paper rose in later centuries, papermakers used less water and spent less time cleansing the rag fibres used to make paper.[4] An early work of art to have been affected by foxing is the Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk, a drawing on paper by Leonardo da Vinci.[5]

Foxing also occurs in biological study skins or specimens, as an effect of chemical reactions or mold on melanin. Textiles, such as articles of clothing, so affected may also be said to be foxed.[6]

Aside from foxing, other types of age-related paper deterioration include destruction of the lignin by sunlight and absorbed atmospheric pollution, typically causing the paper to become brown and crumble at the edges, and acid-related damage to cheap paper such as newsprint, which manufacturers make without neutralizing acidic contaminants.[7]

  1. ^ Smythe Palmer, Abram. "Folk-Etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy". Google Books. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Foxing (PCC) - Wiki". www.conservation-wiki.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  3. ^ Iiams, Thomas M.; Beckwith, T. D. (October 1935). "Notes on the Causes and Prevention of Foxing in Books". The Library Quarterly. 5 (4): 407–418. doi:10.1086/613729. JSTOR 4302211 – via JSTOR.
  4. ^ Dard, Hunter (1978). Papermaking : the history and technique of an ancient craft. New York: Dover. p. 154. ISBN 0-486-23619-6.
  5. ^ Piñar, Guadalupe; Tafer, Hakim; Katja, Sterflinger & Flavia, Pinzari (2015). "Amid the Possible Causes of a Very Famous Foxing: Molecular and Microscopic Insight into Leonardo da Vinci's Self-portrait". Environmental Microbiology Reports. 7 (6): 849–859. Bibcode:2015EnvMR...7..849P. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12313. ISSN 1758-2229. PMC 4959533. PMID 26111623.
  6. ^ Mina, Laura (1 November 2019). "Foxy Underpants: Or the Use of Chelators and Enzymes to Reduce Foxing Stains on Early Nineteenth Century Men's Linen Underpants". Taylor & Francis Online. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  7. ^ "The Deterioration and Preservation of Paper: Some Essential Facts - Collections Care - Resources (Preservation, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2020-11-25.