My first paper re-back for a leather-bound 19th century family Bible. This was my first true bookbinding restoration project for a private client, and I didn't take as many photos during treatment as I am now accustomed to. I researched many techniques prior to this treatment and am grateful for Southern Book & Paper, LLC for their knowledge sharing in helping me along with this re-back. I highly recommend their Youtube Channel.

This Bible arrived in four pieces: spine, two covers, one detached endsheet, and textblock. The textblock itself was sewn well but had five loose sections due to various ephemera placed inside, adding strain and tension to the sewing. One of the faux endbands was missing and the other was a tattered fragment of its former self, but it did give me insight into the original style so I could find a suitable replacement. The leather covers were red-rotting heavily along the edges and the detached spine covering showed the worst damage in this regard. Some pages inside the book had tears and losses to mend as well as wrinkles that needed to be flattened. The last few pages had inserts for tintypes or photographs and many of those pages were torn and left the photographic objects at risk of damage. These were removed before treating the pages and housed separately. It served as a great first project for me to gain experience in various treatments of both leather and paper.

I used a 4% solution of Klucel-G to consolidate the leather spine piece and the edges of the covers, requiring four layers to consolidate the surface. Wheat starch paste (WSP) was used as both a poultice to remove the old adhesive on the spine of the textblock and to repair the torn pages. Three new spine linings (Japanese tissue paper, cotton mull and toned paper) and a hollow were added to support the textblock as the family who commissioned the work desired to use the item and I felt these linings were necessary for that use. The faux endbands were recreated with a striped 100% cotton fabric in a closely related style. To repair the losses to pages and reattach the endsheet to the cover, Japanese tissues were used with WSP. The toned Japanese tissue, which creates the final spine lining, was toned with Golden acrylics and textured to match the deteriorated tone of the covers in an effort to create a smooth transition between the covers and spine.  This tissue layer was adhered under the lifted leather with a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and methyl-cellulose (MC) solution.

The related ephemera found in the pages of the book and the tintypes at the back, were rehoused into a bespoke box to protect the items. *Not pictured.