Book Repair and Restoration

Only a thousand copies of this book are printed and type distributed.

INLAID LEVANT BINDING

BOOK REPAIR
AND RESTORATION

A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
FOR BIBLIOPHILES

Including some Translated Selections
from
Essai sur l’art de Restaurer les Estampes et les Livres,
par A. Bonnardot, Paris 1858

By

MITCHELL S. BUCK

Author of “Syrinx,” “Ephemera,” “The Songs of Phryne,”
Translator of “Lucian’s Dialogues of the Hetaerai,” etc.

Philadelphia NICHOLAS L. BROWN MCMXVIII

Copyright, 1918
By Nicholas L. Brown

Printed July 1918

CHAPTER I

GENERAL RESTORATION

To consider first a few simple processes of ordinary restoration, let us assume that a rare book in its original cloth or boards, in a more or less damaged condition but not to the point of necessitating rebinding, has just been received.

The first operation required is to carefully clean off the binding with a soft cloth, wipe off the end papers, which often have a coating of dust, especially when the covers do not fit closely, and, if the top is gilt, wipe that carefully also. An “uncut” top is freed from dust by brushing with a soft brush.

The book is then collated to make sure that every page is in place and, if there are plates, that no plate is missing. This operation, it is perhaps needless to say, should by all means be done before purchasing, unless the book comes from a reliable dealer to whom an imperfect copy could be returned. If, in collating an old book, the amateur discovers that page 173 follows immediately after page 136, he need not necessarily be alarmed, as mistakes in pagination and even in the numbering of signatures are very common in books printed a century or more ago. In such cases, the “catch words” which generally appear at the bottom of the pages, or else the text itself, should be examined to see whether the page, without regard for its number, is really in its proper place or not. Each page is then examined for dirt or finger marks, which can almost always be removed, the quality of the paper permitting, with a soft pencil-eraser or bread crumbs.

Marginal notes, especially in contemporary hands, are much better left alone; they are often of considerable value and, when neatly and not excessively done, rather add to the interest of the volume without detracting from its value to any great extent. On which subject Bonnardot has quite a little to say, in the chapter on Stains included in this volume.

Presentation inscriptions in the autograph of the author or of some one intimately connected with him of course greatly increase the interest and value of the book. Names written on title-pages can often be effaced by the process elsewhere described, but these should not be disturbed until they have been thoroughly investigated. A name which at the moment seems totally unfamiliar may sometimes be found of special interest inscribed in the particular volume in which it is found. As an ordinary illustration of this, might be mentioned a copy of Edwin Arnold’s “Gulistan” bearing on the half-title the inscription “To dear Mrs. Stone from Tama.” This author had, at one time, married a Japanese girl, and a little investigation revealed that her name was Tama KuroKawa. Her inscription, of course, remains undisturbed, as it adds a distinctly personal note to the volume. But alas! the John Diddles and William Bubbles who have for centuries scribbled their odious names over fair title-pages, with never the grace to make themselves immortal and their autographs a find!

Writing in the year 1345, Richard de Bury remarks, “When defects are found in books, they should be repaired at once. Nothing develops more rapidly than a tear, and one which is neglected at the moment must later be repaired with usury.” Bearing in mind these words of wisdom while examining each page of the book, pencil notes should be made on a slip of paper of any pages needing repairs, also of any places between the signatures where the back is “shaken” exposing the stitching and lining.

Checking off from this list, advisable repairs should then be made. The edges of any tears should be neatly joined with paste. To do this, a clean sheet of white paper should be placed under the torn part and the edges of the tear lightly coated with ordinary white paste. These edges are then pressed together by means of another sheet of white paper pressed above, both the upper and under sheets being gently moved several times to prevent them from sticking to the torn edges. Paste used in this way dries in a few minutes and holds firmly if the edges of the tear are a bit rough. If the page is separated by a clean cut, it may be necessary to apply a strip of thin tissue to hold the edges together. The same general method may be used for inlaying pieces torn from the margins, perhaps by the careless use of a paper cutter in the hands of the original owner. Paper of the same weight and tint as the torn page is secured, placed under the lacuna, and the outlines of the missing part traced off with a sharp pencil. The piece to be inlaid is then cut, following the traced outline but leaving a little margin, and pasted in position, the outer edge being cut even with the general edge of the leaf when the inlay is dry.[1]

White paper for inlaying may be tinted with water-colors to match the old paper. The best method, however, of imitating the yellowish tone of old paper is to stain the inlay with potassium permanganate. This is a dark purple crystal which is used in extremely weak solution in warm water. If a sheet of paper is to be tinted for inlaying or to replace, perhaps, a missing fly-leaf, it is laid in the solution for a few seconds, then removed and the excess purple tone thoroughly washed off under running water. The paper will then be found tinted a pale, yellowish brown, the tone of which may be varied by the strength of the solution and the length of time the paper remains in it. Coffee, licorice or tobacco may also be used, with good results.

The pages all in order and repair, the next operation is to repair the “shaken” back. Perhaps there is no ill to which old books, especially modern issues in their original bindings, are more subject. The damage known as “broken” back usually means a book practically broken in half, the break, in old calf bindings, usually extending through to the outside of the back. The “shaken” back on the contrary, has merely separated between the signatures, exposing, between the inside sheets, the lining of the back. Cheaply bound books seldom remain solid between the signatures, especially when they are printed on heavy, unyielding paper. The damage arises partly from the drying out of the glue in the back and partly from careless handling by readers. Books should always be opened gently and never forced open to absolutely flatten out the pages unless the binding is known to be entirely safe and firm.

The breaks between signatures are repaired and the old glue at these points softened by means of bookbinders’ paste. For this, a solid, satisfactory and fairly elastic substitute can be made by mixing about equal parts of good liquid glue and ordinary white library paste of the kind which comes in tubes. With a long pin, slightly bent on the point, this mixture is laid in the open crack between the signatures, care being taken to distribute it evenly the whole length of the book and to thoroughly cover the exposed inside of the back lining. An excess of paste must be avoided, as it would spread out on the inside margins of the leaves when the book is closed to dry. When all the broken places are mended, the book is closed and placed under a slight pressure for a few hours.

Where the book is bound with a “spring back,” that is to say, with a back which springs apart when the book is opened, leaving a space between the outside back and the actual back of the signatures where they are stitched, a further strengthening of the back may be desirable. This strengthening can be obtained by “lining up” the inside back with a new strip of paper.

To do this, cut a strip of medium weight Japan vellum—which is the best paper for the purpose—a few inches more than twice the height of the book and in width equal to the inside back. One end of this, with the corners clipped so it will not catch, is inserted between the outside and inside backs of the book and slipped through until it projects about an inch at the bottom of the book. (Fig. A.) The part of the strip left exposed at the top is then well coated on the inside face with the paste mentioned above and pulled into the book, against the inside back or lining, by means of the end projecting at the bottom. The surplus of the strip at top and bottom is then cut off, two short slips of paper temporarily inserted at top and bottom to prevent the new lining adhering to the outside back, and a firm hand pressure applied all over the back to force the new lining into close union with the old on the backs of the signatures. The book is then set aside to dry, under a light pressure, after which the two slips of paper inserted at top and bottom are pulled out.

Any slight necessary exterior repairs should then be made—loose bits of cloth or paper at worn corners or along the edges of the boards pasted down, and any tears at the top of back above the head-band reenforced from the inside with strips of cloth or paper.

The outside of a soiled cloth binding often may be cleaned by means of a soft pencil-eraser. If this is done, the cloth should afterward be freshened by a thin coat of sizing.

If these operations are carefully and thoroughly carried out, the book should then be in a solid and satisfactory condition and capable of standing any reasonable amount of wear.

CHAPTER II

REMOVING STAINS

Translated From Bonnardot

VELLUM BINDINGS
(1674 AND 1878)

Before discussing the means of attacking stains which may blemish a book or a precious print, I am going to say that, in certain cases, it might be very desirable to allow them to remain. If I possessed, for example, a missive addressed to Charles IX during the night of Saint Bartholomew, and stained with bloody finger-prints, I would take great care not to disturb these marks which, supposing their authenticity established, would increase tenfold the value of the autograph. If the custodian of the Laurentian Library at Florence should efface, from his Longus manuscript, Paul Louis Courier’s puddle of ink, he would commit an act of vandalism, for that ink stain is a literary celebrity.[2]

To speak of more ordinary examples: one often finds on a book or print, a signature or inscription which may sometimes be an autograph well worth preservation.[3] I very rarely efface signatures or the notes of early, unknown owners; I find it pleasanter to respect these souvenirs of the past. In the same way, some curious objects have certain defects which, I think, add to their interest. For example, a statuette of the Virgin, in silver or ivory, of which the features and hands are half effaced by the frequent contact of pious lips. Restore such worn parts, and the sentiment is stripped from a relic of past ages. It is far better to leave untouched such scars, which attest the antique piety of the cloister. A vellum Book of Hours of the Fifteenth Century, worn and soiled through prayer, has, to my mind, acquired a venerable patina. Here, a spot of yellow wax; there, the head of a saint blemished by the star-print from a tear of devotion: are not these stains which should be respected? On the other hand, a blot of ink or an oily smear point only to carelessness and should be removed.

About the year 1846, I was invited by M. A. Farrens, a skilful restorer of old books, to see in his work-shop a Dance Macabre in quarto, imprinted on paper, at Paris, toward the end of the Fifteenth Century; a rare volume which he was restoring for M. Techner.

The portions already cleaned and restored, compared with those still untouched, excited my admiration. The numerous worm holes, the torn places, had disappeared through an application of paper-paste, so well joined, so well blended in the mass, that I could hardly detect the boundaries of the restorations. The letters and wood-cuts suffering from lacunae had been reformed with great skill on a new foundation. The soiled surfaces of the pages had entirely disappeared before I know not what scraping or chemical action. In a word, M. Farrens was putting into use every secret of restoration to give again to this volume its original lustre.

Ah well! today, I confess, that if I possessed this book in the dilapidated state in which I saw it, I would leave it just as it stood, and limit myself to the indispensable repair of a new and solid binding. Its worn and soiled condition came, very probably, from the frequent and pious turning of its pages, in that monachal perseverance of prayer of which our century knows nothing. Its shocking and decrepit condition had, to my eyes, a secret in harmony with all books of the kind, which, from each page, recall to us our insignificance.

No doubt many amateurs will not agree with me in this; some, perhaps, will declare I have arrived at a monstrous degree of cynicism for a bibliophile. However, I will supply the means of restoring at least a part of their original freshness to books and old prints badly treated by time or by the indifference of their earlier possessors.

When a print is soiled with spots or foreign color, especially in the most interesting places, one can hardly lay it away in a portfolio without making some attempt to remove or reduce the strange tints which appear on it. This is the part of my present work most difficult to discuss, while being the most useful. My simple notions of chemistry are not always sufficient and perhaps, some day, some chemist especially trained in analysis and decomposition may, with advantage, rewrite this portion of my work. I will at least record, however, a large number of satisfactory results which I have obtained and even repeated on fragments of proofs on unsized paper, this last being the most unfavorable of all conditions.[4]

The first difficulty comes when the nature of the spot is not easily recognized. This yellow spot which resists both washing and bleaching, may perhaps be formed by some greasy body or by some metallic oxide, and one must proceed carefully on any hypothesis which may be formed. In such cases, where experiments must be tried, it is necessary to know some chemical substance which can be first applied, to the end that, if the spot persists, the chemicals used in attempting its removal will not, at least, render it impervious to further efforts. It is not possible to set positive rules for this. I have tried indifferently the action of an acid before that of an alkali, and vice versa. Only, I have been careful, before renewing any experiments to soak the print for several hours in cold water to stop the action of any chemicals already used and to annul their traces and effects.

The first attempt to make upon a spot of unknown origin, is to soak the print for several hours in cold water and then rub the spot gently with a finger or a small brush. It sometimes happens, especially when the paper has been well made and well sized, that the spot will yield to this gentle rubbing, slide off and disappear. When the spot becomes thick and pasty, it is at least weakened even if it does not come off. This is, in any case, a necessary first operation. But it should be carried out with care, in order not to injure the surface of the print. Before soaking a print in water or chemicals, it is best to clip a few small shreds from the margin and soak these in a small glass test-tube to note the effect.[5]

It sometimes happens that there appears on a page or print a single spot which it is desirable to remove without going to the trouble and risk of soaking the whole sheet. A spot on the corner offers few obstacles; the part is simply dipped in a vessel containing the proper solution. If the spot is in the middle of the sheet, I usually make use of a shallow porcelain cup having sides slanted in toward the centre, such as is used for water-colors. By means of such a cup, any part of a sheet can be brought into contact with the solution. The chemical may also be applied directly to the spot by means of a small brush.

M. de Fontelle advises the use of blotting paper from which a hole, a little larger than the spot, has been cut. This is placed over the spot and the chemical liquid dropped in. The blotter around the spot will absorb the excess liquid without offering any obstacle to the operation.

In operations upon single spots, the action of the chemicals always extends a little beyond the spot itself and often leaves a bleached line which is in disagreeable contrast with the other parts of the sheet. This may be retinted with dark licorice or some suitable color in more or less concentrated solution, mixed sometimes with a little common ink. This is applied with a small brush, care being taken not to overlap the solution on the unbleached portion of the sheet beyond the bleached line.[6]

REMOVING STAINS OF VARIOUS KINDS

GREASE. Grease spots, especially when very recent, can sometimes be drawn out by an absorbent powder such as impalpable clay or chalk. The spotted leaf is enclosed between two tins or boards, both sides of the spot well dusted with the powder, and the book closed tightly and set aside for several hours. Some kinds of grease absorb more slowly than others. If this operation is unsuccessful, alcohol, ether or benzine may be tried.[7] A weak solution of pure or caustic potash operates very rapidly. If the ink on the page or print is turned gray by this, it may be restored by a wash of acid in very weak solution.

WHITE OF YELLOW WAX. These spots yield promptly to pure turpentine, especially in a warm bath. When the spots thicken, they are lifted off with a scraper, or blotting paper may be applied, pressed down with a heated iron.

STEARINE. Wax tapers are today replaced by a kind of liquid grease, stearine, spots of which give paper a disagreeable transparency. These dissolve in warm alcohol or boiling water, but the spot remains stiff and the brilliance of the ink is reduced. The greater part of the stearine spot may be removed by the same process indicated for wax.

SEALING WAX. RESIN AND RESINOUS VARNISH. All dry resins yield to a warm alcohol bath. The thick part is removed as above. Sealing wax colored red, blue, etc., leaves a corresponding tint which is very tenacious.

TAR, PITCH, etc. These spots are rarely encountered. They give way to warm turpentine or cold benzine. If a dark trace remains, it sometimes may be removed by oxalic acid if the spot has not been burned by the hot tar. Whenever turpentine is used on any spots, it should always be the purest obtainable.

EGG YELLOW. This is always mixed with a little albumen, a matter which thickens in boiling water and can be drawn from the paper, along with the yellow. If the paper is smooth and well sized, all will disappear under a sponge in a bath of hot water. There sometimes remains a yellowish trace. To remove this, apply with a brush chlorated lime and then very weak hydrochloric acid.

MUD. This may be removed simply with a wet sponge or in a warm water bath. Where the paper is rough and absorbent, soap jelly should be used. If a dark trace remains, it usually will yield to oxalic acid or cream of tartar.

INK. Ordinary writing ink is easily decomposed because its principal constituent is a vegetable matter, oakgall, mixed with a little iron oxide. This gives way rather promptly to an application of sorrel salt dissolved in boiling water. The water must be boiling to secure prompt action. Even better success may be obtained by the use of pure oxalic acid, which is an extraction from sorrel salt of which it is the base.[8] Chinese ink cannot be dissolved but sometimes may be washed from a smooth page by means of a damp sponge. Marking ink may be removed with chloride of lime.

FRUIT JUICE. Stains from fruit may be removed by chlorine or cream of tartar. In some cases, water alone is sufficient.

BLOOD. These stains may be bleached by chloride of lime. As this must be applied for at least twenty minutes, it is better to use it as a damp paste. There will remain a yellow trace which will give way to a weak acid.

FECAL MATTERS OR URINE. For such spots, try soap and water. If this is unsuccessful try successively chlorine, alkalis, oxalic acid and hydrochloric acid, soaking the page for an hour in water between each operation.

TRANSFERRED IMPRESSIONS. Frequently the characters of a book, bound before the ink is completely dry, offset, while in press, an impression in grayish tones upon the opposite pages or upon the faces of inserted prints. These transferred impressions may sometimes be removed by rubbing with an eraser made of bread crumbs or by soap-jelly, which should be left on for some time and then washed off.

I have no doubt neglected to describe more than one kind of spot which an amateur may find. By analogous reasoning, however, he may find for himself the proper remedies to use. If the spot seems to be of a vegetable or animal nature, he should use chlorine and sulfuric acid; if metallic, diluted hydrochloric acid; if oily or greasy, essence of turpentine, ether, alkaline solutions or benzine.

BLEACHING.[9] Soaking a print in cold water for about twenty-four hours often suffices to brighten and clear it; but if, after a long soaking, it still remains darkened to the point of detracting from the clarity of the engraving, one will need to use chemicals in order to obtain a suitable bleaching. Chloride of lime may be used for this purpose. This is a fine, dry powder which softens when allowed to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. About fifty grammes of this are placed in a bottle about two-thirds full of water, and thoroughly shaken. When the solution clears by the excess of matter depositing on the bottom of the bottle, the clear liquid is carefully poured off. Another solution, which will be weaker, may be made by pouring more water into the bottle. The clear solution is diluted with about twenty times its quantity of pure water, for use. It is better to dilute too much, and add more of the solution later, if necessary, than to dilute too little. The solution will not injure the black ink of an impression, but if too concentrated, it will make the paper brittle.

After using this solution, the print should be placed in a bath of weak acid, and then left to soak for several hours in clear water.

CHAPTER III

REBACKING

ORIGINAL SHEEP BINDING
(1684 REBACKED)

It often happens that books are purchased in old sheep, calf, or even morocco bindings with the hinges so broken that the boards are either entirely off or held only by weakened cords. Such books may be properly entrusted to a good binder for rebinding in substantial leather. It is sometimes preferable, however, merely to reback such books, not only in order to preserve the old leather sides, which are generally in much better condition than the back and often possessed of a very attractive patina, but also to save the wear and slight trimming to which the book would necessarily be subject in rebinding.

It is inadvisable to reback with calf or any very perishable leather. A good quality morocco should be used. In rebacking books bound in old calf or sheep, a smooth-grain brown morocco, such as that known to the trade as Spanish morocco, will be found satisfactory and a fair match for the old leather, both in color and surface texture.

The first operation in rebacking is to treat the old leather with a softening substance, such as vaseline, to prevent the old leather from breaking while it is being worked on. The vaseline should be rubbed well into the covers, left on for about half an hour, and the excess then wiped off with a soft cloth.

Vaseline is also used in the same way to assist in the preservation of old leather bindings still in good repair. It is not entirely satisfactory, as it soon dries out. The best composition for preserving leather is one suggested by Mr. Douglas Cockerell, made by mixing about two ounces of castor oil with one ounce of paraffin wax. The oil is heated and the wax, shredded, melted into it. As the mixture cools it is stirred with a splinter of wood. If this is thoroughly done, the resulting mixture will be a whitish jelly. A thin coat of this is applied to the leather, especially around the hinges, and well rubbed in with the palm of the hand. Any excess is then wiped off and the book polished with a very soft white rag. This mixture is best used while still hot, a little being soaked into a woolen cloth, by means of which it is rubbed on the binding. If leather bindings could be given this treatment about once a year their life would be greatly increased.

After the leather of the old book to be rebacked has been treated, a cut is made down each side of the back, through the leather close to the broken hinge. (Fig. A.) Care should be taken not to cut through the cords which are set into the boards at this point. If the back is furnished with a leather label in a fair state of preservation, this label should be cut around and lifted off to be used again on the new back.

All the leather on the back and over the hinges, up to the cut above mentioned, should then be lifted or scraped off. As a majority of old books are bound with the leather glued directly to the lining of the back, a certain amount of the old glue, according to its condition, scraped smooth, should be left on the lining.

While old calf backs are generally so dry that they must be scraped off in pieces, it is sometimes possible, when the back is of more solid leather, to remove the old back; with the label and gilding, in one piece. If this can be done, the inside of the old back should be scraped and this back pasted on again over the new leather back. This is, of course, preferable, as by this means more of the characteristics of the old cover are preserved.

When the back is clear of leather, a small cut about half an inch long is made at the top and bottom of each side, at the ends of, and at right angles to, the first cut; from the ends of the short cuts, the leather is again cut at right angles over the top and bottom edges of the boards. (Fig. B.) As these points, near the top and bottom of the inside hinges, the end-papers pasted on the inside of the boards are lifted for a short distance so that all the old leather under them can be removed.

The head-bands should then be examined to see that they are firmly in place and any missing band replaced, the new band being simply glued to the back lining.

A sharp, thin knife is then run under the leather of the sides, following the first long cut, loosening this leather from the boards for about half an inch back from the cut, this distance equalling the short cuts at top and bottom. (Fig. C.)

The book is now ready for the new back. This is cut from the leather to be used, in width equal to the distance over the back and hinges plus a trifle less than half an inch on each side, and in height to project half an inch beyond the top and bottom of the book.

This leather is then pared thin on the inside for about half an inch all around the edge. Paring requires careful work and a sharp knife, otherwise the piece may not be pared thin enough to set smoothly, or may be cut through and ruined.

The back lining of the book itself, and the inside of the new back, are then given a medium thin coat of paste, and the leather set evenly in place. The side edges of the back are slipped under the leather of the sides where this leather was loosened from the boards following the first, long cut, and pasted directly on the boards. (Fig. D.) By this time the paste on the top and bottom ends of the back will be dry. These are given another coat of paste, one at a time, and turned under upon themselves, starting in the middle, the corners being carried over the edges of the boards and securely pasted down inside where the end papers have been pushed back. The top, beyond the boards, is tucked in behind the head-band. When the top and bottom of the back have been treated in this way, they are then flattened with a folder and the edges of the hinges are bent in to form the head-cap finish observable on almost any book bound by hand in leather. (Fig. E.) The tops of the head-bands may require a slight touch of paste so that the leather turned over upon them will stay in place.

The inside end papers, where they were lifted at the top and bottom near hinges, are then pasted down over the corners of the new back which are folded in at these points, and the leather lifted from the sides is pasted down over the side edges of the new back where these are pasted directly on the boards. New inside hinges of paper or cloth may be added, if required; but if these are to go in they are best set in place before the new back is pasted on.

The new back being in place, it might be given a certain amount of finish. If the book is sewn on outside cords, these will show as raised bands on the back, and the new leather is, of course, moulded over these when it is first set in place. In such a case, a satisfactory, plain finish can be obtained by moulding these bands distinctly. This is done by running the edge of the folder in the angle at each side of each band with a see-saw motion. Experiment will show how this may give a smooth, polished line on each side of the bands if it is thoroughly done with fair pressure while the leather is still moist from the paste on the inside. Before attempting any such operations, however, the outside of the new back must be washed entirely free from any spots of paste.

An additional “blind” line may be made at top and bottom across the back, by bending over the back a straight piece of vellum to serve as a guide to the folder. A smooth back without bands may be finished with a series of double or single lines put on in this manner, care being taken that the line of the vellum guide is at right angles to the side edges of the back.

The back of the old label, if this is to be used again, is then scraped and the label pasted on in its proper place between bands; or a new label, properly lettered in gilt, may be ordered from a binder.

The entire work, when almost dry, should be pressed over with a hot flat-iron to press down any irregularities, the edges of the cut leather on the sides, and the top and bottom finish over head-bands. The iron must be well warmed rather than hot. If too hot, it will lift the surface of the leather. The book should then be placed under pressure to dry.

For the operation of rebacking one needs only a sharp, thin knife, a ruler or straight edge, a bone folder and a small flat-iron in the way of tools. A small press is desirable, but not necessary. The folder, which may be purchased from a dealer in bookbinders’ supplies, will be furnished with square ends; one of these ends should be sawed off on an angle and smoothed with a file to give a pointed end, which will be found very useful. (Fig. F.) The flat-iron should be wedge-shaped, about four inches long, with straight, rounded edges. [Fig. G.] Irons of this kind may be found in toy shops, and will be found extremely useful and easy to handle in all small repair operations.