Restoration of a Marbled Leather Binding

The Seasons contains a series of four poems written by British poet James Thomson (1700-1748). Thomson began the series with Winter, which was published in 1726. He published Summer and Spring in the two years following. The final poem in the series, Autumn, was published as part of the complete edition in 1730.

The Seasons by James Thomson, after treatment

This copy of The Seasons, held in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives at UNCG, was published in 1837 by publisher Andrus, Judd, & Franklin of Hartford, Connecticut. It is a small binding of about 4 x 6 inches, which was easily held in the hand or tucked in the pocket of its owner. The book has a decorative leather binding known as marbled leather. The effect was created by pouring acidic solutions across the leather to create striated areas of color resembling marble. For more information about decorative leather binding terminology and techniques, click HERE.

We recently had the opportunity to treat this lovely little binding in Preservation Services. When we received it, the front board was attached only by its cords. The leather was split at the hinge on the front and back covers, a natural result of regular handling of an old, brittle leather binding. 

Both images are before treatment, on the right: the PVA-type adhesive
at the fore edge corner from a prior treatment

The fore edge corners and the hinges had previously been treated with a PVA-type adhesive (common examples of PVA adhesives are wood glue, white glue, or school glue), which created a clear, plastic-like coating that may have provided some protection but also may have contributed to further damage as the adhesive was stronger than the aging leather.

In process (L to R): mending the outer hinge with Japanese tissue, recreating a
missing endband, mending the endcap with Japanese tissue

Other than some water damage staining at the spine edge of the pages, the text block was in relatively good condition. A folio in the first section of pages was loose and the interior hinges at the front and back were split just as the leather was split on the outside of the hinges.

The split hinge at the front of the book allowed for access to the spine edge of the first section, so we were able to sew in the loose folio. The interior hinges were repaired with Japanese tissue and rice starch paste. The exterior hinges were repaired with brown Japanese paper and then further toned with watercolor to more closely resemble the original marbled leather. Once toned, the Japanese paper was sealed with a coating of Klucel-G/SC6000 which consolidates and serves as an added layer of protection as well as matches the sheen of the original leather.

After treatment: the outer hinge was mended and toned
to more closely resemble the original leather

This copy of The Seasons by James Thomson was returned to Special Collections and is now available to be shared with researchers and students interested in 18th century British poetry, blank verse poems, or perhaps marbled leather bindings.

A 1/4 Leather Book from 1766

Interesting Historical Events on the Province of Bengal - Indostan - 1766

I'm always searching for great findings in our library stacks and rescue them for Jackson Library Special Collection and University Archives (SCUA). The book here presented is from 1766 with original cover in poor condition, leather was degraded and marble paper was very abraded.

Indostan was a term used to designate the region today know by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal.

A total of nine maps gives the reader a broad view of what Bengal Province region looked like in the XVIII century. The book is a great source for the researcher looking into the modern history of the Indian civilization.

Following several conservation procedures in its treatment, we can highlight the new binding in 1/4 calf leather and marble papers. The maps were mended and folded 'per original'. The original sewn endbands were gone, new ones, in linen, were added.

Also new handmade conservation endpapers replaced the ones used when book was originally bound, they were very acidic and did not belonged to the same type of paper used on the printed book.

Here is the Google url shortner link for this book in our Special Collection:

http://goo.gl/hhH65Z

Preservation Services on YouTube

The Preservation Services is releasing its first film about procedures in conservation treatments that are performed in our Division of the University Libraries. The film was possible through a joint effort with the Digital Media Commons, especially Cheryl Cross, who patiently recorded hours of  this treatment, to then be reduced to just eight minutes of viewing. What a fast conservation treatment!!!

The book, I Vespri Sicilliani, is part of our Cello Music Collection and was a donation received in 2013 from George Darden Piano and Opera collection.
http://uncgspecial.blogspot.com/2013/10/george-darden-martha-blakeney-hodges.html

The Conservation and Restoration of a Unique Item

Last week we finished the conservation treatment of a very special volume. Méthode Elémentaire de Violoncelle: Suivie de 92 Études: Oeuvre 60 by Friedrich August Kummer and Adolphe Le Dhuy (translater).  It is part of our Cello Music Collection of Janos Scholz, dating back to the second quarter of the XIX century. We are one of two OCLC libraries worldwide to have this particular edition in our collection.

The book arrived with the original cover in a very poor condition. It was bound in a quarter leather and decorative papers, the textblock was still holding the freshness of the first years of life. There were losses on the spine, boards splitting at the fore edge and bottom, the decorative papers were badly damaged with missing parts, as we can see in the photos below. There was no trace of the original label. The leather on the cover was very brittle and already affected by red rot. Like any organic material, leather through the years can lose it is primary component, colagen, the fibers once elastic start to break and those affected areas become very powdery. 

Front cover

Back cover

The cover was in such a bad condition that I thought twice about rebinding the book per original . At the same time, I could still see the beauty behind the damage of this volume. I knew it was going to take more work and time but the simple fact that the book is part of our Cello Music Collection makes it worth the effort.  I persevered on the conservation and restoration, working hard to save the original cover to make it functional for the use of any scholar researching in our library. The following pictures speak for themselves:

Front cover during treatment

Back cover during treatment

For the large missing area on the decorative paper at the back, we used a digital solution. A photo of the pattern was taken and printed on a Japanese Paper Moriki, which was then consolidated with Klucel G to assure permanence of the toner ink. After the restoration of the area, the printed Japanese Paper was placed with starch paste.

Below part of the book corner and the Japanese Paper Moriki with the printed pattern we photographed.

 

The finished book after conservation treatment.

NEW LEATHER BINDING FOR THE WORKS OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU

A few months ago, we received in our lab three books from a set of five, dating back to 1803, in need of care. They are to be added to our special collections through a gift we received.

The book covers were in very poor condition with very damaged boards, brittle leather and marble papers, and missing endpapers. The original leather on the spine was flaking with very little left of the original title. Almost all of the gold tooling that had been applied was gone. 

It was evident that no restoration could be performed to the original boards to save them, so it was decided that a new binding in leather (calf) and marble papers, similar to the original one, would be best to provide these volumes with a longer life.

The textblocks were in good condition but in need of cleaning. They were all dry cleaned, mechanically, to remove the surface grime. The few tears they had were mended using Japanese Paper Tengujo 5gs and rice starch paste. New endpapers were added using handmade McGregor papers.

  

Now the books are ready to be part of the Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, at UNCG,