The Victorian book dates back to 1855
The book, 'My Own Garden: The Young Gardener’s Yearbook', is Victorian and dates back to 1855. It has now been hidden safely away from visitors. An inscription inside the front cover of the book shows it was a gift given to a Caroline Gott, a member of one of Leeds' industrialists, by her father.
This particular book, which is a vivid green colour, was dyed using arsenic, which can be lethal when ingested. Rhian added: "Amazingly, heavy metals were once quite commonly used in the production of books as a way to achieve what was considered a very aesthetically pleasing shade of green. "The fact that this particular book also once belonged to the Gott family means its story is also a part of Leeds’ history and, with some careful handling and storage, it can continue to be part of our collection for many years to come."
The book will now be secured and safely stored before being sent away and scanned with a specialist spectrograph to determine how much arsenic it contains.