Preservation in action! Part 2
- jessicaspiker
- Jul 27, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 19
The second item I worked to preserve for my LIS 649 Final Project was an old book I picked up about 12 years ago, Songs of Lake Geneva and other poems by John Brayshaw Kaye.
I got this book from a used bookstore in the French Quarter of New Orleans for very cheap. I also got four other old books, however, this book was both the oldest and in the worst condition. The book was published in 1882 and had previously been owned by St. Mary's Dominican College, a women's liberal arts college that was located on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans (now the building is part of Loyola University of New Orleans).
The first thing I did was research how to repair the hinge of a book. I browsed a useful repair manual (Dartmouth College Library Preservation Services) shared by a classmate, and while the guide has useful information and a helpful glossary with images, it did not have specific instructions on how to repair the damage my book had. I then searched the collection we have in the archives at work, and sure enough, we had a handful of titles concerning book and archival material preservation. The best book I found was Books and Their Care and Repair by Jane Greenfield, published in 1983. This book had step-by-step instructions with drawn diagrams of most of the steps. I was able to find a section on repairing broken hinges but was admittedly concerned about completely removing the binding from the book.
At this point, I turned to the internet for helpful tutorial videos. I found a video published by Demco, a company that sells library supplies. This short video was the basis for the repair I did to my book.
The front hinge of the book was mostly detached, with only the top part still connected. The first thing I did was completely detach the front hinge from the text block (I'll admit, this was painful to do, especially as my first step). The next thing I did was gather my supplies (thankfully some of these came in the binding kit we received for class and others were available for me to use at work):
acid-free adhesive
paste brushes
bone folder
cloth hinge tape
scissors
exacto knife
wax paper
napkins
book clamp
I then cleaned up the edges with scissors and the exacto knife to ensure that the adhesive would properly attach and I used a tiny amount of glue to paste down some corners.
At this point, I was ready to start the main repair. I cut a slip of the cloth hinge tape to just under the height of the text block and folded it evenly in half lengthwise. I then found a slip of scrap paper to place under it so I could completely cover one side of the folded edge in adhesive without worrying about making a mess. I then gently placed the adhesive pasted tape to the text block side of the book and used my bone folder to press evenly on the entire piece of tape, making sure to press into any nooks.
At this point, I needed to adhesive to dry, so I placed my sheet of wax paper between the cover and text block and secured the book in a book clamp. I left the book to sit for a few hours (not enough time to completely set, but enough time for it to get tacky enough to stay in place while I worked on the other side).
Next, I started on the cover side. I repeated the process used for the text block. I made sure to use a scrap piece of paper behind the cloth tape, so I did not need to be concerned with making a glue mess inside the book. Once the tape was evenly covered in adhesive, I pressed the cover against the binding and lined up the tape with the front cover. I used the bone folder to evenly press the tape along the inside front cover. I then placed my wax paper back into the book and secured the book back into the book clamp.
Then I let the book sit overnight in the clamp for the glue to completely dry. The next day, I removed the book from the clamp to see how my repair turned out. I realized that I had tightened the book hinge a little too much and should have placed a piece of wax paper between the book and the wood. The metal edge on the planks of wood (in the photo above, they are meant to help keep the joint's shape) had started to separate the front cover from the spine at the bottom of the book and the glue seeped out and made the book stick to the metal. Regardless, the book is now in one piece.
Overall, I think I did an okay job preserving this one. I don't feel as confident with the book as I do with my digitization of the old photograph, but I think that's largely due to my experience with digitization and the simple fact that making a digital copy of something requires very little change or potential deterioration of the original item. On the other, a lot can go wrong with book repair. In addition, I made the decision to change part of the repair (repairing a single hinge rather than completely removing the cover from the text block and not having single stitch binding tape so using regular cloth hinge tape) thinking that it wouldn't make a big difference. Now, after seeing my final product, I see how important those things are. (I also wish I had taken more before photos and possibly a video).
Maybe I can use this experience as a reason for attending the American Academy of Bookbinding courses in Telluride...
Here is a short video of me discussing my results with preserving this book:
Additionally, here is a link to the digitized version of Songs of Lake Geneva & other poems by John Brayshaw Kaye:
References:
Dartmouth College Library Preservation Services. (2019). A Simple Book Repair Manual. https://www.dartmouth.edu/library/preservation/repair/dartmouth-book-repair_manual.pdf
Demco Library & School Ideas. (2022). Broken hinge repair. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQkG9-_AJb8
Greenfield, J. (1983). Books, their care and Repair. H.W. Wilson.
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