Book 2

Above: The Reign of Queen Victoria, ed. Thomas H. Ward, 2 vols. (London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1887), came to me in a sadly abused condition. The volumes had been exposed to damaging sunlight, which had caused the cloth to become brittle and cracked. Moreover, the covers were besprinkled with drops of paint. Despite this neglect and abuse, the textblocks and paper remained quite strong. Clearly, this was a set of books well-worth saving.

Below: To make this set presentable, I chose a blue Italian bookcloth, and prepared a black background for the title on the each spine. The endsheets are a reproduction of a Victorian design and color. I added matching headbands (at both the top and bottom of the spine) and ribbon. Since the original boards remained in very good condition, I reused them; however, I slightly trimmed their width in order to convert the hinges from the "tight joint" to the "French groove" pattern, thereby allowing more flexibility at the hinge.