According to Randy Kennedy writing in the Saturday March 4, 2017 issue of The New York Times (“Trying to Pin Down The Smell of History”), Jorge Otero-Pailos, director of historic preservation studies at Columbia University and his students are working with Christine Nelson, a curator of manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Carlos Benaim, a master perfumer at International Flavor and Fragrances to sample the molecules “off gassed” from the objects in the rooms of the Morgan Library & Museum buildings in order to characterize the smell profile of each. While there are no plans to create a “Morgan Library scent”, it is not inconceivable that one day scent may be used to enhance the visitor experience. I know that this project has a connection to the conservation of physical objects. I’m struggling with how to articulate that connection. Perhaps it has something to do with preserving authenticity.
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AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse
Former Blog of the American Institute for Conservation