Staff at McNaughtan’s Bookshop in Edinburgh, found that inside a book dating back to 1822 lay a remarkably well-preserved spider.
Derrek Walker from McNaughtan’s Bookshop(Image: Edinburgh Live)
Scots shopkeepers made a chilling eight-legged discovery inside a 200-year-old book.
Staff at McNaughtan’s Bookshop in Edinburgh, found that inside a book dating back to 1822 lay a remarkably well-preserved spider.
The Leith store found the mummified creature inside the book Gems, Principally from the Antique, Edinburgh Live reports.
Speaking of the eerie find, Derek Walker said: “We sometimes find live spiders on books and we generally go ‘Eek!’ and try to re-home them.”
Established in 1957, the store is Scotland’s oldest second-hand bookshop. They acquire large collections of books from estate sales and auctions. Staff then inspect every book and count each page to make sure none are missing.
Derek continued: “We opened this one and just inside the front cover there was a little squashed spider. You find all sorts of things in old books.
The spider was remarkably well-preserved (Image: Edinburgh Live)
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“This one was decently well-preserved and captured in an evenly-splayed pose that really stood out. We thought it was a funny little thing and took a picture of it.
“We see dust and dirt of various kinds in books. You often see traces of insects because sometimes they cause damage to books, they eat the glue that holds old books together. It’s more unusual to find the body of a bug itself, particularly well-preserved.
McNaughtan’s is the only open shop in Edinburgh to be a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, the oldest trade body in the antiquarian book world.
It was first opened in the 1950s by Major John and Mrs Marjorie McNaughtan, who were avid book collectors.
You can find more about the McNaughtan’s at their website.