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Just In Case: Re-casing A Cloth Case Binding with Original Materials

7/23/2020

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Anyone who handles old books knows the above images well: the spine lining, glue, or endsheets on that 20th-century case binding have finally given out, and the textblock has all but ripped itself out of its covering. If the cloth case is also in tatters, a cloth re-back is often the surest course of action to get the book back into working order. Oftentimes, however, when it's only the cheap mull or excessive hide glue that have loosed the book from its place, the case itself is in more or less perfect order, and it seems a shame to carve it up to complete a full re-back. 
Enter the Cloth Re-casing, a sort of modified reback procedure that offers the strengths of a full reback while maintaining even more of the original case materials, resulting in an almost invisible repair. 

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'Carrots', Just a Little Boy - Mrs. Molesworth, 1891

3/16/2019

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'Carrots' came to me in decent shape from a $1 sale, but the joints were torn and the textblock was solid be separated from the covers. 
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The textblock had taken parts of the front and back pastedown with it, but they were still present, so I saved them for later.
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First step is clean all of the old spine lining and glue off of the textblock.
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Much better.
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After lining the spine with kozo paper using methyl cellulose, I opted to practice some sewn silk endbands on this book. It didn't come with endbands originally, and if it had they would've been the pre-fabbed, glued-on type, but this was a great opportunity to practice the skill on an inexpensive binding.
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Using red and gold based on the cover art, I think it turned out nicely!
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Here's the completed reback. After the endbands, the spine was lined with another layer of kozo paper, then linen, then paper. A new spine piece was fitted into the boards, new spine cloth was toned to match the existing cloth, then everything was slid, glued, and pressed together. 
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History of the American People - David Saville Muzzey, 1935

12/20/2018

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In classic school-book fashion, the pastedowns and a good part of the text was covered in pencil markings.
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These cleared up nicely with a soft eraser.
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Several pages were detached or torn, leaving the edges exposed and tattered.
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The case is separated from the textblock.
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Sewing begins. I didn't take pictures, but this volume kept popping pages, and there was lots of paper repair done prior to this.
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Completed textblock. It was originally machine-sewn, but since this isn't an exceptional book, I decided to try out some different techniques.
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New bookcloth toned to match the original. Since this piece is only visible at the hinges, that's the color I aimed to match.
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The completed reback. Since I only wanted to return this to a readable state, I left the corners and edges frayed.
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The Complete Nonsense Book - Edward Lear, 1923

9/8/2018

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The cover was completely detached from the textblock when I found it and clear packing tape had been used to secure a label and hold the cover together.
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The damaged sewing (shown below) left most of the pages in the front half of the book loose and tattered on their edges.
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Detail of the worn, broken sewing.
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Given the state of disrepair, the rest of the sewing was removed so that pages could be repaired and new, stronger sewing could be added.
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Scotch tape and some other adhesive had been used on a few leaves, leave the paper brittle and stained. The tape was removed and the leaves were repaired one by one with strips of kozo paper and methyl cellulose.
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The stack of completely repaired and re-punched signatures.
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Sewn and rounded by hand. I visited a local studio to use their backing press and return the textblock to its original curve.
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The rounded and backed textblock is lined with linen cloth using PVA. The lining is wider than the spine to provide an attachment point for the original boards.
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Dying new bookcloth to match the patina of the old spine piece and boards.
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The complete reback, showing the new, dyed bookcloth at the hinges.
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The original spine piece was lined with kozo paper and adhered to the new spine cloth with PVA.
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The damaged endsheets were left as they were found, but the linen and kozo lining makes this binding as strong as if it were brand new.
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The tape-stained folio, after extensive paper repairs.
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Index Volume to the Works of William Shakespeare, 1902

5/28/2018

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This 116 year old book was purchased at a library book sale in pretty rough shape.
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Clear packing tape had been applied across the spine and both covers, keeping the spine attached but also risking further irreparable damage.
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Peeling back the spine piece reveals the sewing in great shape.
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To repair, the cover is completely separated from the textblock, and the spine piece is trimmed from the cover boards.
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The spine pieces are recovered, worn sections are carefully trimmed, then backed with dyed kozo paper and methyl cellulose.
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The completed reback, showing the new dyed cloth at the hinges.
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Original spine piece is adhered to the new cloth with PVA.
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