Book beetles skip Einstein’s letters

JERUSALEM – Beetles chewed holes in hundreds of books at a Israel’s national library, but spared the letters of Albert Einstein.

The insect, the Anobium Punctatum, was discovered three months ago in the pages of 19th century Judaica books, officials said yesterday. The beetle is not indigenous and apparently arrived in a book shipment from the United States or Europe several years ago, said Orit Sulitzeanu, spokeswoman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where the library is housed.No rare or precious books were harmed, the Jewish National and University Library said in a statement.The Einstein papers and writings of Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber are held in a separate section, said Rosalind Duke, deputy director of the library.The beetles usually don’t eat modern books whose pages are treated with repellents, she said.The wood-eating insects also don’t like the taste of ink and prefer the binding and the margin of the pages.- Nampa-APThe beetle is not indigenous and apparently arrived in a book shipment from the United States or Europe several years ago, said Orit Sulitzeanu, spokeswoman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where the library is housed.No rare or precious books were harmed, the Jewish National and University Library said in a statement.The Einstein papers and writings of Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber are held in a separate section, said Rosalind Duke, deputy director of the library.The beetles usually don’t eat modern books whose pages are treated with repellents, she said.The wood-eating insects also don’t like the taste of ink and prefer the binding and the margin of the pages.- Nampa-AP