Lighting Rare Books
Those who invest in book lighting for private libraries generally display only rare books or special collector’s edition prints on their bookshelves. These books are made from very fine, and also sometimes very sensitive, materials. Lighting them requires careful attention to the aesthetic presentation of books as display collectibles in their own right. It also requires an awareness that not all forms of bookcase lighting fixtures are suitable for rare and collectible books, and that some forms of light (such has UV-rich fluorescent), must be avoided at all costs.
As harmless as any given spectrum visible light may appear at face value, it is the invisible wavelengths of light that may also be part of that spectrum that can pose a serious, unseen threat to the covers and pages of rare books. Because paper and leather originate from organic sources, they are just as sensitive to the destructive effects of ultraviolet light as living tissue is to sun burn and skin cancer. They are also sensitive to the excessive heat radiance of infrared light on the opposite end of the spectrum. IR light can dehydrate paper and leather, and in some cases, even create a fire hazard.
Book lights must avoid invisible wavelength emissions of any kind to be both pleasing and safe to use. In recent years, 2800K LED lamps have emerged as the best tools to use for this purpose.
LED lamps are ideal for book lighting because they are 100% free of both ultraviolet and infrared light frequencies when comparing other festoon lamps. This is because LED technology uses solid diodes, not incandescent gases, to generate luminance. LEDs emit a tight, monochromatic frequency of color that is emitted in a very narrow