Book Repair

I have an old book which would not be particularly valuable even in good
condition (maybe $50), but my copy has the back cover completely
detached and the front cover partially detached. I want to repair it,
but not in any way that would further decrease its value (assuming
that's possible!).

How does one repair detached covers?

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for
knowing what the hell you're talking about. --Thomas Sowell

I have an old book which would not be particularly valuable even in good condition (maybe $50), but my copy has the back cover completely detached and the front cover partially detached. I want to repair it, but not in any way that would further decrease its value (assuming that's possible!).

How does one repair detached covers?

If all the pieces are there, you carefully re-attach them with
glue, working from the inside out. The important thing is to have
a secure, durable hinge, so if the webbing (as I call it) that
attaches and holds the cover to the spine is completely separated,
you need to insert a new piece of cloth that will act as a hinge,
before re-gluing the end papers and the actual outer material of
the cover, whether it is cloth or leather.

On older books you don't see a web for a hinge, you see three flat
strips of what appear to be woven linen straps, or even round hemp
cords that are inserted through holes in the board of the cover.
Sometimes the straps and the webbing are both used. Sometimes
these three straps can be rejoined, if you've got anything to work
with. If not, you need to insert a new hinge. I use a strip of
thin synthetic cloth such as a rayon-cotton blend from an old
shirt. I cut it almost the length of the spine, and make it about
an inch wide.

To insert this strip, you have to make room for it, which means
carefully lifting the paper that is attached to the inside of the
cover along the spine-edge of the cover, so you can slide in the
cloth that will act as the new hinge. Use an exacto knife or razor
blade. The cloth has to be completely saturated with glue. The
thinner the cloth, the less it will show when the paper is
reattached over it. The other side of this cloth strip is glued to
the actual spine of the book. You should apply glue liberally to
the spine, as well as saturating the cloth.

To keep this new hinge from sticking to the back of the cover
along the hinge while it dries with the book closed (you always
let the glue dry with the book closed) slide a strip of wax paper
down the back of the book between the cover and the spine before
closing it to allow the glue to dry. In general, you can protect
anything you don't want to get the glue on with wax paper.

If you're lucky, your endpaper will be intact, rather than in two
pieces. This will cover the new hinge you just made. If not, you
have to reposition the two torn sides of the endpaper so that they
are aligned and glue them down to the new hinge, where the cover
and the book pages meet. When done skillfully, this type of repair
is hardly noticeable, and will last quite well under normal use.

The working order is this: after repairing the hinge or inserting
a new hinge, you then repair the inside over the hinge, and when
that is dry, you rejoin the outer cover material. The other cover
material can be joined with glue alone, but it will not last too
long and will need regular maintenance. A better way is to insert
a backing under the cover material, and glue the cover material
down onto the backing. You can hold it into alignment while the
glue dries using pieces of Scotch tape, but be careful -- this
tape may lift the surface from old, dried leather covers. It is
generally safe to use tape on cloth.

Of course, as soon as the glue is dry, you take the tape off.
Never use tape of any kind to make an actual repair. Not even the
so-called safe kind of tape that libraries sometimes use.
Librarians don't know anything about books.

My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the materials
nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've ever
done this, but I will definitely save this information.

Al Smith wrote:

I have an old book which would not be particularly valuable even in
good condition (maybe $50), but my copy has the back cover completely
detached and the front cover partially detached. I want to repair it,
but not in any way that would further decrease its value (assuming
that's possible!).

How does one repair detached covers?


If all the pieces are there, you carefully re-attach them with glue,
working from the inside out. The important thing is to have a secure,
durable hinge, so if the webbing (as I call it) that attaches and holds
the cover to the spine is completely separated, you need to insert a new
piece of cloth that will act as a hinge, before re-gluing the end papers
and the actual outer material of the cover, whether it is cloth or leather.

On older books you don't see a web for a hinge, you see three flat
strips of what appear to be woven linen straps, or even round hemp cords
that are inserted through holes in the board of the cover. Sometimes the
straps and the webbing are both used. Sometimes these three straps can
be rejoined, if you've got anything to work with. If not, you need to
insert a new hinge. I use a strip of thin synthetic cloth such as a
rayon-cotton blend from an old shirt. I cut it almost the length of the
spine, and make it about an inch wide.

To insert this strip, you have to make room for it, which means
carefully lifting the paper that is attached to the inside of the cover
along the spine-edge of the cover, so you can slide in the cloth that
will act as the new hinge. Use an exacto knife or razor blade. The cloth
has to be completely saturated with glue. The thinner the cloth, the
less it will show when the paper is reattached over it. The other side
of this cloth strip is glued to the actual spine of the book. You should
apply glue liberally to the spine, as well as saturating the cloth.

To keep this new hinge from sticking to the back of the cover along the
hinge while it dries with the book closed (you always let the glue dry
with the book closed) slide a strip of wax paper down the back of the
book between the cover and the spine before closing it to allow the glue
to dry. In general, you can protect anything you don't want to get the
glue on with wax paper.

If you're lucky, your endpaper will be intact, rather than in two
pieces. This will cover the new hinge you just made. If not, you have to
reposition the two torn sides of the endpaper so that they are aligned
and glue them down to the new hinge, where the cover and the book pages
meet. When done skillfully, this type of repair is hardly noticeable,
and will last quite well under normal use.

The working order is this: after repairing the hinge or inserting a new
hinge, you then repair the inside over the hinge, and when that is dry,
you rejoin the outer cover material. The other cover material can be
joined with glue alone, but it will not last too long and will need
regular maintenance. A better way is to insert a backing under the cover
material, and glue the cover material down onto the backing. You can
hold it into alignment while the glue dries using pieces of Scotch tape,
but be careful -- this tape may lift the surface from old, dried leather
covers. It is generally safe to use tape on cloth.

Of course, as soon as the glue is dry, you take the tape off. Never use
tape of any kind to make an actual repair. Not even the so-called safe
kind of tape that libraries sometimes use. Librarians don't know
anything about books.




--
Evelyn C. Leeper
A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for
knowing what the hell you're talking about. --Thomas Sowell

My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the materials nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've ever done this, but I will definitely save this information.

LOL. Sorry to be so detailed. I learned how to do this kind of
work over a period of years through trial and error, by repairing
hundreds of damaged older books that were not worth much. I've
probably done just about every type of repair there is. I've even
bound books myself from loose pages, by sewing page bundles
together by hand (the pattern of stitches used on old books is
fascinating).

Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the materials
nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've ever
done this, but I will definitely save this information.

Librarian friends may not be the best people for this task.
Most libriaries do not care about preserving the value of a book
(in the book collecting sense). They care about preserving the
content for the most readers to use. For a library's purpose,
rebinding
is much better than repair (or just reattaching using large pieces of
hinge material and tape).
A torn page would be removed and a photocopy would be glued in.
(If the page was complete and readable, then it would be taped).

I've worked in libraries and in museums - completely different
attitudes to what "presevation" and "repair" are. An archive can
go either way depending on the purpose and the attitudes of the
directors.

B

bml wrote:

Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the materials
nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've ever
done this, but I will definitely save this information.

Librarian friends may not be the best people for this task.
Most libriaries do not care about preserving the value of a book
(in the book collecting sense). They care about preserving the
content for the most readers to use. For a library's purpose,
rebinding
is much better than repair (or just reattaching using large pieces of
hinge material and tape).
A torn page would be removed and a photocopy would be glued in.
(If the page was complete and readable, then it would be taped).

I've worked in libraries and in museums - completely different
attitudes to what "presevation" and "repair" are. An archive can
go either way depending on the purpose and the attitudes of the
directors.

Well, if it matters, the book is Oskar Seyffert's DICTIONARY OF
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES (published by William Glaisher), which I at least
bought for content rather than extrinsic value.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for
knowing what the hell you're talking about. --Thomas Sowell

"Evelyn C. Leeper" wrote in message
news

Well, if it matters, the book is Oskar Seyffert's DICTIONARY OF
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES (published by William Glaisher), which I
at least bought for content rather than extrinsic value.

Why didn't you say ?

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---------------------------------------------



michael adams









--
Evelyn C. Leeper
A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for
knowing what the hell you're talking about. --Thomas Sowell

My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the materials
nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've ever
done this, but I will definitely save this information.


Librarian friends may not be the best people for this task.
Most libriaries do not care about preserving the value of a book
(in the book collecting sense). They care about preserving the
content for the most readers to use. For a library's purpose,
rebinding
is much better than repair (or just reattaching using large pieces of
hinge material and tape).
A torn page would be removed and a photocopy would be glued in.
(If the page was complete and readable, then it would be taped).

I've worked in libraries and in museums - completely different
attitudes to what "presevation" and "repair" are. An archive can
go either way depending on the purpose and the attitudes of the
directors.


Well, if it matters, the book is Oskar Seyffert's DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES (published by William Glaisher), which I at least bought for content rather than extrinsic value.

Reference works are worth fixing. I've got an 1890 edition of
"Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon" that I use a lot in my own
work. It's a reprint of the corrected edition by Trigelles
published in 1846. The cover was pretty much gone, so I had to
make a new cover, and had to do a lot of work on the spine.

The fun thing is, the first owner, Paul E. More, of Saint Louis,
signed it on July 24, 1891. The second owner, Donald B. Mackay, of
Princeton, signed it on Oct. 27, 1937. And I, the third owner,
signed it in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 24, 1988. I've had it
now 17 years. There's room for about two more owners to sign below
my name on the same blank page before the title page.

Al Smith wrote:

Librarians don't know anything about books.

More likely that librarians and collectors know different things about
books.

David Ames

WOW - I've got the 1846 version of "Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon"
the sine is in good condition and so is the binding never thought I'd see
that listed in here

regards

Mike

"Al Smith" wrote in message
...
My lord, this is detailed! Alas, I suspect I have neither the
materials
nor the skill for this. I may ask my librarian friends if they've
ever
done this, but I will definitely save this information.


Librarian friends may not be the best people for this task.
Most libriaries do not care about preserving the value of a book
(in the book collecting sense). They care about preserving the
content for the most readers to use. For a library's purpose,
rebinding
is much better than repair (or just reattaching using large pieces of
hinge material and tape).
A torn page would be removed and a photocopy would be glued in.
(If the page was complete and readable, then it would be taped).

I've worked in libraries and in museums - completely different
attitudes to what "presevation" and "repair" are. An archive can
go either way depending on the purpose and the attitudes of the
directors.


Well, if it matters, the book is Oskar Seyffert's DICTIONARY OF
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES (published by William Glaisher), which I at least
bought for content rather than extrinsic value.

Reference works are worth fixing. I've got an 1890 edition of
"Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon" that I use a lot in my own
work. It's a reprint of the corrected edition by Trigelles
published in 1846. The cover was pretty much gone, so I had to
make a new cover, and had to do a lot of work on the spine.

The fun thing is, the first owner, Paul E. More, of Saint Louis,
signed it on July 24, 1891. The second owner, Donald B. Mackay, of
Princeton, signed it on Oct. 27, 1937. And I, the third owner,
signed it in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 24, 1988. I've had it
now 17 years. There's room for about two more owners to sign below
my name on the same blank page before the title page.