Book 3

Above: This poor book, A Defence of "The Eclipse of Faith" by Henry Rogers (Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Co., 1854), had been predestined to either fall or crumble apart. Not only had the twine cords (on which the signatures of the textblock had been sewn) completely deteriorated, but the extremely thin bookcloth was tearing at the hinges and edges of the boards, and--worse still--the acidic paper had lost its flexibility and become brittle. Attempting to repair such a book is a risky enterprise.

Below: To return this book to a usable condition, I had to take apart the textblock and reinforce the hinges of each signature so that they could withstand the pull of thread as they were resewn. Instead of installing new cords, I sewed the signatures onto linen tape (or ribbon). I replaced the spine with new cloth, onto which I attached the original cloth (with title), and added headbands. The end result was surprisingly good. Although the reinforcement of the signature hinges resulted in an increased curvature at the spine--which I dare not attempt to force into a more "normal" appearance--the binding was strong, the textblock was sound, and the book could, once again, be used.