Post by Francis A. MiniterPost by NyssaWith your hobby of purchasing old books, I'm hoping you
can point me in the right direction for repairing a book
I bought this week at a Friends of the Library bookshop
in the Big City.
I didn't notice it when I bought it, but the front hinge
paper was held together with a small sliver of paper.
Once I got it home, that hinge tore the rest of the way
leaving a flapping cover.
I found a book repair online manual at Dartmouth
University's website, and it has instructions on how to
repair the problem, but no specifics on the supplies for
the repair.
Searches on Amazon for similarly named items has been
useless, so please HELP if you can with recommendations
of specific supplies and product names.
One puzzler was for "Japanese paper" that resulted in
everything from origami papers to artist drawing paper.
I'm also wondering if there is a specific type of tape
that can be used. I'm in a quandary over the "mylar"
mentioned on the Dartmouth site too.
The cookbook is in good shape otherwise, just that torn
hinge paper that failed to hold.
Ob mystery: I bought one other book at the sale, a Louise
Perry mystery in like-new condition.
Nyssa, who would like to fix the one book before she
reads the other one
Hi Nyssa,
I by all my supplies from Lineco (actually from an art
supply store that
stocks Lineco products). Their book repair materials are
all pH neutral, from the adhesives to the tapes to the
webbing.
If I understand your problem correctly, the front hinge of
the cover is no longer attached to the text block, leaving
only the rear hinge
holding the cover to the text block. In that case i would
use a scalpel to lift up the endpaper on the cover side
and do the same as far as
possible under the front free endpaper. Then I would slip
some document paper or webbing (from Lineco) under the
endpaper and glue it down with
pH Neutral Adhesive. When it is dry, I would do the same
on the front
free endpaper side. (Or you can work in the opposite
direction depending on comfort.)
I have seen such repairs done with pH Neutral Document
Adhesive Tape that is glued to the outside of the
endpapers, but I do not consider it aesthetic or
professional.
If, on the other hand, you have a spine cover adhering at
the back but
flapping at the front. I would use webbing and glue half
of it to the
flapping cover with pH Neutral Adhesive. Then, when that
is dry, I would fold the other half over to glue to the
spine of the book, but first insert wax paper to keep the
two halves of the webbing from
adhering together. Glue the webbing to the spine and when
dry remove the wax paper.
By the way, for removing glue or other library adhesives
from book covers, or for general cleaning of a book cover,
there is nothing safer
than Ronsonol Lighter Fluid. It is the best cleaner I
know and does not leave any rings or other marks.
I hope that answers your concerns, if not please let me
know.
Francis A. Miniter
Thank you for the reply and information, Francis. I have
both printed and saved your post.
Yes, you have it correct: the text block is intact, but
the front cover is flopping with the paper of the front
cover hinge detached from the flyleaf paper.
After doing much digging and poking of the Amazon, I
came up with something called "paper hinge tape" that
was PH neutral. It's a 60 yard roll for $17, so I could
repair a LOT of books if I find others in my collection
that have dodgy hinges.
Your description of the hinge repair is close to what
the Dartmouth site described but they refer to Japanese
paper instead of a webbing for the insert between the
ragged edges of torn hinge.
I'm also assuming that an Exacto knife (which I have)
can be substituted for a scalpel (which I don't have).
Amazon carries several Lineco products including the
glue, but I didn't see webbing listed, so I'll look
again. I was surprised that the Lineco items had lower
ratings and poorer reviews than other brands though.
There are pages of listings for bookbinding supplies
under the Crafts, Arts, and Sewing department, but
most of the pages are full of fabric tapes in various
widths and colors all of which slow down finding anything
else.
I only paid $3 for the book in question, so having a
repair "look professional" is less important that overall
cost of supplies to attempt the repair. I may opt for
the paper hinge tape just to keep the costs down.
First I'll paw through some of my older books to
determine if any of them are in need of repairs. If
so, purchasing the glue, webbing, tape, and so on
would be more cost effective. If not, just the tape.
If anyone is interested in the topic of book repairs,
the link to the Dartmouth manual is:
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/preservation/repair/index.html
Currently struggling to finish "The Operative" by
Andrew Britton, one of my Dollar Tree finds. It's a
terrorist attach thriller with a mystery of a mole. For an
action-packed thriller it's slow moving with the author
stopping in the middle of things for character backstory,
characters reflecting on other times and places, or just
wool-gathering at a bad time drags the narrative and action
out to painful levels at times. Example: just over two hours
of "real" time takes almost 100 pages of book time.
Thanks again, Francis.
Nyssa, who has three other finishes to report to ram,
hopefully sometime this weekend