In article ,
"Francis A. Miniter" wrote:

This weekend I came upon a 2nd printing of Mark Twain's The
Innocents Abroad (Hartford: American Publishing Co., 1870).
The only problem is that it has no binding, not even at
the spine. Duplication of the elaborate original black
cloth binding is impossible. So I was thinking of having it
bound in full black leather. On the other hand, I
understand that there was available from the publisher on
special order a three-quarters rust morocco binding over
marbled boards. That would be feasible too. I am
interested in your thoughts on this. Thank you.

Seems to me that if I were going to the trouble and expense to have the
book bound, I'd go for the gold -- or in this case rust morocco. I mean,
full black leather is so COMMON. :-)

The real question is what would make you happy.