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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: his appetite after being "evicted." Moreover, he knew his own dignity
better than to eat the "loaded" glazed shoddy note paper in which
he was incarcerated.
In the case of Caxton's "Lyf of oure ladye," already referred to,
not only are there numerous small holes, but some very large channels
at the bottom of the pages. This is a most unusual occurrence,
and is probably the work of the larva of "Dermestes vulpinus,"
a garden beetle, which is very voracious, and eats any kind
of dry ligneous rubbish.
The scarcity of edible books of the present century has been mentioned.
One result of the extensive adulteration of modern paper is that the worm
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