Three different approaches to general collections conservation treatment (from L-R):
- Reusing the original boards and spine, with the spine and boards rejoined together using new bookcloth
- A
brand new case made with all new decorative elements, and no reuse of
any materials from the original case, with some artistic liberties taken
compared to the original binding design, which was a red quarter
leather binding with marbled paper sides
- A brand new case made, but reusing the decorative elements of the original cover and as well as using new bookcloth that matched the original color scheme
For all of these books, the covers had separated entirely from their bindings, and there was significant damage to the original covers that prevented me from just reattaching the cover in one piece. I removed the original spine linings, then added new linings of tissue, cambric (a type of fabric), and paper before I recased them.
This post was originally published on the ConserveThis! Tumblr, on May 21, 2018.