4

I'm looking for the word or term for a hollowed-out book used to contain objects. I've heard the terms book safe and the colorful term smuggler's Bible, but an acquaintance swears there's a single word for this that he does not remember.

Any ideas? Any other terms? Pic for reference.

enter image description here

Improve this question
  • 2
    Wikipedia calls these "Hollow-book safes" and you can buy them under that name on e.g. Amazon. – Dan Bron Dec 10 '14 at 16:09
  • Stashbook, maybe. – 0.. Dec 17 '14 at 7:58
3

The closest single-word answer for you I can find is "solander."

ODO has

A protective box made in the form of a book, for holding such items as botanical specimens, maps, papers, etc.

late 18th century: named after Daniel C. Solander (1736–82), Swedish botanist.

Improve this answer
  • Welcome to ELU! This seems a good word, so I added in some corroboration for you. Please do that for your future answers. (Hopefully the downvote your original answer gained will be reversed.) – Andrew Leach♦ Dec 17 '14 at 7:49
  • This is not it. This is a box that looks like a book: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/… – 0.. Dec 17 '14 at 8:05
  • This was the word my acquaintance was looking for. Not exactly the same thing as a book safe, but I think it's the closest thing that's one word. – j.i.h. Dec 18 '14 at 14:13
  • @j.i.h.: Why do you put a misleading picture if you were not sure what it is then? – 0.. Dec 19 '14 at 21:38
1

"Hollow book safe" and the like seem to be the only names I can find for such an object. Perhaps your friend was thinking of a steganograph, a message hidden inside a book through the use of invisible ink, a cipher, etc.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.