On my mind With

IT’S good to get your nose in a book.

First of all, they smell better than a tablet, which has more chance of being redolent of burning metal, leaking battery and a rotten Bluetooth.

Secondly, a book has a distinctive smell. Reading is a multi-sensory experience and ‘bibliosmia’ (‘book smell’ – from the Greek) is an important feature of reading. In older books we are actually smelling the book decomposing , a chemical breakdown.

The book also emits the distinctive odours of its journey through its life and its slow demise at the hands of its readers.

So it was with great anticipation when my latest ebay bargain thudded on to my doorstep – two huge volumes of the History of Carmarthenshire by Sir John E Lloyd, published in 1935. These weighty, fausty tomes came with thick, yellowing paper with crackling edges and the enduring odour of academia.

More importantly, although I did enjoy a good sniff, they tell the story of the significance of Carmarthenshire in the development of literacy in Wales. We have two heroes of reading in Griffith Jones and Thomas Charles, both born in west Carmarthenshire.

The former set up a new type of circulating school which would be free, and teach the essentials - the ability to read in Welsh. They are regarded as one of the most important educational experiments anywhere in Europe in the 18th century.

Thomas Charles, regarded as an organising genius, is forever linked with the development of the Welsh Sunday schools which catered for adults as well as children. Together these movements enabled the majority of the people of Wales to read their own language.

So join me, postChristmas, in taking off the shelf that old book and having a good sniff (and a read).

■ Follow Graham on Twitter@geetdee