There is a popular tradition in the book world, that the Tashbetz, R. Shimon ben Zemah Duran (1361–1444) was very careful to respect holy books in his lifetime, spreading out an attractive cloth under the books that he was learning from. In return for this good deed, his book was printed in a very attractive form and in a unique high quality binding. His printed books never get wormed, moth eaten or moldy. Rav Shalom Baer Schneersohn is said to have searched through numerous libraries and found, that even if the Tashbetz was placed between other books that were moth eaten, the Tashbetz was left untouched.
Here are some of the sources that discuss this tradition:
Today, I had just sold a copy of the first edition Tashbetz that was rather heavily wormed. Photos of it appear below. Perhaps the version that the Yafeh Lalev brings down is the more correct one, where the reward the Tashbetz received was that his books were printed in extraordinary beauty, rather than a protection from nature and the elements.
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