Notebook Storage Question

I have a hundred year old travellers chest, the sort that was made for travel from Europe to America back in the early 1900s. It smells odd, is musty, but clean and is in no danger to get leaks or stain anything. I'm concerned about smell or discoloration however if I were to store writing notebooks in the chest. I have read about horse-glue that was frequently used in that era for paper binding, and the inside is indeed the paper siding.

I want to know if a chest like this would be safe to store these notebooks. I don't want them to come out in a year smelling horrid, primarily.