Too Much Mending, Too Little Time

L: Bound cello music score, R: Detail of damaged cover

This 1917 volume of bound scores, from the collection of Luigi Silva (1903-1961), is part of the Cello Music Collection in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives at UNC Greensboro. It is part of a set of several works bound together under the handwritten title Pezzi repertorio II (Repertoire Pieces II). This volume contains parts for a violin or violoncello and piano. The score also contains handwritten performance notes by Luigi Silva. Silva was a renowned musician as well as a teacher and scholar of the violoncello. To learn more about Luigi Silva, please visit the Luigi Silva Musical Score Collection and Personal Papers.

Damage to the cover on left and to the pages on right

Often, when we receive a damaged item in Preservation Services, we do not know the exact cause of the damage. This score is one such example. The front cover had been punctured by a sharp object, which caused damage through the cover and into the first 20-25 pages of the bound score. Because so many pages had been damaged, it was going to be a time-consuming task to mend the same hole or loss on all of the 20 or so damaged pages. 

Mending this type of damage requires careful consideration of materials. Though the score is unlikely to be used in performance any longer, it was necessary to ensure that the mend would remain flexible as the pages are turned by researchers or perhaps when the book is shared with a class. Mending tissues are often selected based on the type, age, and condition of the paper being mended. For example, a very brittle paper mended with a thick piece of Japanese paper would simply break again next to the mend, as the mend would be stronger than the paper itself.

L: Hole as it appears on one of the first pages, vs.
R: Hole as it appears on the last damaged page

The paper in this score was relatively stable in condition, so brittleness was not a concern. However, adding a Japanese tissue mend to each of the 20 or so damaged pages would quickly build up thickness in that one area that could be problematic in the function of the book. For that reason, a thin Japanese paper was used along with rice starch paste to mend each of the holes.

Another consideration in completing this type of mending is how much time is involved. Often in Preservation Services, we are able to go beyond basic repair and even restore a damaged item to close to its original condition. However, we must balance how and how often the item will be used in the future with how much time we can invest in its repair. Not every item warrants a full restoration.

L: The hole being repaired, R: Applying pasted tissue to the hole

In this case, the item may be used in the future by researchers, in a class, or in an exhibition, so it was necessary to spend more time in the conservation process rather than simply providing a protective enclosure for storage. To that end, in projects such as this one it becomes necessary to save time whenever possible as there are so many conservation projects in the queue. Not only do we conserve items in Special Collections and University Archives, but we are also tasked with preserving materials in the general circulating collections of Jackson Library as well as those in the Harold Schiffman Music Library on campus.

When time and space are not as much of a concern, or when working on a flat item such as a letterpress printed broadside, it would be common to allow each mend to dry under blotter and weight while working on another project at the same time. In the case of repairing this bound score, a quicker method was employed. A small travel iron on a very low heat setting was used to quickly dry each mend before moving on to the next one. So, mending more than 20 pages took a fraction of the time it might have. Applying heat is not always ideal, so the conservator must consider the type of materials being mended and what impact heat may have on the item.

L: Ironing mend to dry it quickly, R: Finished mend

For each mend, a substrate is placed under the page being mended. It consists of a piece of release paper (like parchment paper you might use in baking), which is layered over a cotton blotter on top of a scrap of book board. Rice starch paste is applied to a thin piece of Japanese paper torn to size and applied to the area of the page needing repair. A Teflon folder is used to press and smooth the tissue onto the paper being mended. Then, another piece of release paper is layered on top of the mend and the iron is used to apply heat to quickly dry the paste. The blotter underneath helps to absorb the moisture from the paste. In this way, 20 or more pages can be mended in a fraction of the time. Likewise, because a very thin tissue was used, the "stack" of mends did not build up into a thickness that might have impeded the cover from closing completely. So, the problem of too many mends and too little time was easily resolved.

As you see pictured below, the cover was also mended with a black Japanese paper. Two years ago, we posted another blog entry about mending the corner of a cello music score much like this one. Please click HERE to read about that repair.

Detail of repaired cover

Resewing & Restoring Endbands

If you have followed our blog, you may remember that we have mentioned resewing endbands previously as part of a full binding restoration. Endbands, sometimes referred to as headbands, are attached to the spine of a book at both the head and tail and rest between the spine and the cover.

Handsewn endband

Endbands can be structural components of a binding as well as decorative elements. They may also simply be aesthetic with no real substantive support to the book. There are many different types of sewn and "stuck-on" endbands. Stuck-on endbands may be machine-made or handsewn separate from the book and adhered to the spine of the book with adhesive. Sewn endbands, rather than just being glued to the spine, are mechanically attached to the spine with thread. Periodically, as an endband is sewn, it is anchored to the spine of the book by a loop of thread that goes down into a section of pages, through the spine, and back up to loop around the endband again. (See picture below.)

Aatu Dorochenko, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Sewn endbands may be sewn with a single color of thread or they may have several colors interwoven to create a decorative pattern. One of our favorite reference books for sewing many different kinds of endbands is Headbands: How to Work Them by Jane Greenfield and Jenny Hille. Endband sewing patterns may vary by historical time period or by geographical location, or both. The most common structure we use is a single core endband with a bead on the edge or the spine. The thread wraps a single core material, such as linen cord, and a bead, or decorative weave or braid, is created as the cord overlaps itself.

Stuck on endband material

Stuck on endband

Stuck-on endbands come in many varieties as well. In some cases, an endband may be handsewn as described above but separate from the book and later adhered to the spine with adhesive. In such a case, the endband serves more as decoration than as structural. Many mass-produced hardcover books have stuck-on endbands that have been machine woven to appear similar to handsewn endbands. This type of endband is sold in rolls that can be cut to length based on the width of the spine. (See picture above.) Stuck-on endbands can also be made by adhering cloth or paper around a core of cord, which is also cut to length based on the spine width and adhered with adhesive. (See picture below.)

Handmade stuck-on endbands
paper or cloth wrapped
around linen cord

Handmade stuck-on endband

Often, when completing more extensive book restoration projects, we need to resew endbands. In many cases, there are remnants of endband threads still attached to a book indicating that one was once present. Or, we will find one endband intact and the other missing and needing a replacement. It is nice to find at least one of the endbands still intact so that we can model the replacement from it. However, if both endbands are missing, we have to do some guesswork based on the historical time period of the binding for what style and colors of endbands might have been used originally.

Left: linen cord core for an endband
Right: linen cord wrapped in paper

If we have an endband to use as an example, we try to match it as closely as possible. One step of that process is to use a core material that is close to the diameter of the original. Endbands may be sewn on linen cord, leather, parchment, rolled paper, or other materials. We most often use linen cord, though at times we have to adjust the diameter of our cord by rolling it in paper (see image above) to more closely resemble the original. Then, we try to match the thread and pattern of the original endband as we resew a new one.

Partial replacement of a sewn endband

Recently, a book had part of the original endband still attached but about a third of it was missing. Because the remaining portion was in relatively good condition and securely attached, a partial endband was created to supplement the original. This proved somewhat challenging in that a new core needed to become an extension to the existing core. Fortunately, the exiting core was the same diameter as our linen cord. The new cord was consolidated (stiffened and compacted with adhesive) and tipped onto the existing cord with a drop of adhesive. Once dry, a the winding threads were wrapped in the same pattern around the new cord and it was periodically anchored to the book by sewing down through a section of pages and out through the spine. It can be a challenge matching thread colors at times. In the case of this repair, the original thread was quite discolored from age and dust, so it may have been a more successful match if a darker thread was used rather than the cream colored thread pictured. Hindsight is always 20/20, no?

Resewing an endband

Sewing endbands is both tedious and time-consuming, but it is also very rewarding as it provides both structural support to a binding as well as aesthetic beauty. It can be somewhat meditative as well as it is a repetitive task that requires a great deal of focus - perfect work for 2020.

Super Size Me: The Book Conservation Variety, Part 3 (of 3)

In our final post of this three part series about this conservation treatment, we will review covering the book in leather, reapplying the original label, and blind tooling a panel on the front and back covers. Previously mentioned in Part 1, The Royal Commentaries of Peru (RCP) by Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616), published in 1688, arrived in Preservation Services having already received a number of repairs. For that reason, it was determined that the best way to stabilize and improve the function of this book was to remove it from the original binding and rebind it in a new leather cover.

The Royal Commentaries of Peru before and after treatment

And, as mentioned in Part 2, there are many steps to preparing a book to be covered in leather. In the case of RCP, those steps included mending almost all of the pages, resewing the text sections on cords, adding new endpapers, resewing endbands, and several other time-consuming tasks. (See Part 1 and Part 2 for those steps) This is the sort of work we very much enjoy doing but for which we do not always have the time.

The dampened leather is adhered first to the spine
and worked around the raised cords before
smoothing onto the covers.

One of the first steps for covering a book in leather, after the many steps mentioned in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, is to pare the leather. A piece of leather, in this case, calf leather, is cut to the size of the book plus about an inch extending beyond the head, tail, and fore edge of the book (top, bottom, and edge opposite the spine). The leather is then pared with a special knife to bevel or thin the edges to aid in turning the leather in around the cover boards. For a quick video on what leather paring is, click HERE to see conservator and toolmaker Jeff Peachey (to see Peachey's tools, click HERE) demonstrate on a scrap piece of leather. Once the leather is pared, paste is prepared and all the necessary tools are set out in easy reach of the binder. The binder needs to work fairly quickly once the leather is pasted out, so it is helpful to have all the appropriate tools at hand.


The leather is moistened with water using a soft sponge or cotton on the hair side (the side that had hair on it when it was sourced from an animal). On the flesh side of the leather (the side that faced the inside of the animal from which it was sourced), paste is applied, scraped away, and reapplied in stages. The moisture from both the water and the paste makes the leather more malleable as it is applied to the book. However, it also makes the leather susceptible to scarring or bruising while it is dampened, so the binder must take care not to damage the leather in the binding process.

The book rebound in new leather before the decorative panel was inscribed

The leather is first applied to the spine of the book and worked down around the raised cords. From there, it can be laid down on each cover. The binder then works at the head and tail of the book, with the covers open and the textblock upright and perpendicular to the table surface, to turn the leather in around the edges of the boards and form the endcaps (a bit of leather that protrudes at the head and tail of the spine and curves over the text minimally to protect the end band). It is difficult to document covering a book in leather while doing so as the binder must stay focused and work quickly. For a rough overview of the process, click HERE to watch a video of covering a book in leather.

The original label was readhered to the new leather spine

After the book was covered in the leather and had ample time to dry, the original label (that was lifted as the book was removed from its original cover) was reapplied. While the facing tissue is still on the label, the label can be adhered to the new spine leather. Once dry, the facing tissue was removed with a thin coat of Klucel-G (a leather consolidant that worked like an adhesive to hold the tissue to the face of the label without damaging it).

The final step was to create a panel pattern on the front and back covers similar to the design on the original covers. A simple way to create a design on leather is to take advantage of the issue mentioned earlier: leather is easily scarred or bruised when dampened. After determining the basic rectangular design, a cardstock template was created to simplify the process of keeping the design parallel to the edges of the book. The cover was dampened, the template laid in place, and a bone folder was used to impress the lines in the damp leather. Once dry, the lines appear slightly darker because the leather was purposefully bruised with the folder while damp. Once one cover was dry, the book was flipped over and the same design was applied to the back cover.

A template was used as a guide to impress decorative lines on the cover while the leather was dampened

After its extended stay in Preservation Services for stabilization and rebinding, The Royal Commentaries of Peru was returned to our Rare Books collection and will be available for use by researchers and classes for many years to come. To read more about the process of treating this book, visit Part 1 and Part 2 of this three part series.

The cover leather was dampened to impress the lines. On the left,
it was still very damp. On the right it was beginning to dry

Super Size Me: The Book Conservation Variety, Part 1

In the coming weeks, we will be publishing a series of posts documenting the extensive treatment of one very large leather bound volume. Following is Part 1 of the series.

The Royal Commentaries of Peru, 1688, before treatment

The Royal Commentaries of Peru (RCP) by Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616), published in 1688, is a large volume covering some of the history of the Incas, including their government and laws and the Spanish invasion of their countries. The RCP landed in Preservation Services having already received multiple repairs and treatments over its lifetime, including a Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA, similar to common white glue) adhesive applied to parts of the leather cover, leather patches, and a strip of adhesive tape to mend the exterior hinge.

Before treatment, the textblock was split and
the book had received multiple repairs

Likewise, the book showed signs of extensive use, such as well worn foreedge corners, scratched and worn leather, and broken hinges. The textblock sewing was broken in places and the the textblock was in multiple sections. The binding was a tight back leather binding, so the leather rested against the spine edge of the text with minimal spine linings between the leather and paper.

Due to the PVA adhesive applied to the spine, the first section of the book was restricted from properly opening. Adding insult to injury, the book was originally printed and bound with the paper grain running perpendicular rather than parallel to the spine. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, the grain direction of the paper can affect how well the book opens and whether the pages drape or lay flat for easy reading. There isn't much to be done about the paper grain direction once a book is printed and bound, but there are a few techniques to lessen the impact and improve the function of the book.

PVA adhesive applied to the spine restricted the opening of the pages

A leather patch and PVA adhesive had been
applied during previous repairs

We do our best to conduct the least invasive conservation treatment that will stabilize a book and improve its function. Our goal is to maintain as much of the original item and experience as possible. In the case of RCP, we decided the best path forward would be to remove it from its damaged binding, which had already received numerous treatments, some more effective than others. The leather was too brittle and some of the treatments were partially irreversible, so a new binding was the best way to proceed.

The first step in the process was removing the covers and cleaning the spine. The original leather label was carefully lifted by facing it with Japanese tissue and Klucel-G (a leather consolidant). Because the label was very brittle, the facing tissue provided the strength and stability needed to lift it from the spine.

Prior to cleaning the spine, the original leather label was lifted by
facing it with Japanese paper and Klucel-G, a leather consolidant

The spine was cleaned by mechanically removing easily friable layers, followed by the application of a poultice of rice starch paste to soften the old adhesive. Once the spine was cleaned, it was clear that previous repairs had disguised much of the damage to the spine edges of almost all the folios. Thus, an extensive guarding project was at hand. Guarding is the process of attaching two paper leaves at their spine edges with a strip of Japanese paper and starch paste. The folios can then be sewn through the fold to reconstruct the text block.

Left: Separate leaves waiting to be guarded
Right: Stacked sections of the textblock already mended and ready to sew

RCP is just over 1000 pages and almost every folio needed guarding. Needless to say, this phase of the project was time-consuming. But, slowly and over time, the stack of leaves became a stack of guarded folios.

Once the text block was fully mended, sewing commenced. In order to minimize the swell produced when thread is sewn through every section (a section is several folios seated one inside the other), the book was sewn in a pattern called "two on". Just as it sounds, two sections are added at a time and the thread alternates from one section to the other so that half the amount of thread goes through any one section. This keeps the spine edge of the book from being disproportionately larger than the foreedge of the book.

A sewing frame was used to support the cords while the sections are sewn together along the length of the spine

The book was sewn on cords. For a particularly large book such as this (roughly 8.5"W x 13.5"H x 3"D), the cords provide extra strength and support as the book is handled. By guarding the folios and resewing the book, it has become much more functional for the reader as it flexes open more easily and is much stronger than before, not to mention it is in one piece again!


Stay tuned for Super Size Me: The Book Conservation Variety, Part 2 to follow the steps of sewing endbands, board preparation, and lacing the covers to the textblock.

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.

Restoration of a Collection of String Quartet Compositions

Prioritizing our work can be challenging as we provide services to the general circulating collection in Walter Clinton Jackson Library, the collections of the Harold Schiffman Music Library, as well as the various collections of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. Part of our consideration of how to devote our time depends on how an item will be used, such as in an exhibition, with a class, or for a scheduled researcher appointment. The curator of each collection makes those decisions and the work falls into our work queue according to how soon it will be needed and for what purpose it will be used.

The cello music collections at UNCG constitute the largest single holding of archival cello music-related materials in the world. Stacey Krim manages the collection. One of her many duties is identifying items needing conservation and/or restoration (what's the difference?) so that they may be used by researchers or in classes, stabilized for storage, or handled for digitization purposes. 

Four volumes before treatment

This set of four volumes was bound by one of its previous owners and contains the instrumental parts for a variety of string quartet compositions written by variety of composers and published by different publishing houses between 1780 and 1809. The set was donated to the UNCG Cello Music Collection as part of the Bernard Greenhouse Collection. Krim identified the items as a priority for conservation and transferred them to Preservation Services. We determined that due to their intended use with classes and researchers, both repair and restoration would be necessary.

Left to Right: Quarter Leather, Half Leather, and Full Leather Bindings

The binding style of these four volumes is referred to as half leather. A book with all leather or all book cloth as its covering material is referred to as full leather or full cloth respectively. A book with leather or cloth at the spine and fore edge corners (or sometimes there is a strip of leather or cloth all along the fore edge instead of just at the corners) with an alternate material for the rest of the cover is half leather or half cloth. And, a book with leather or cloth just at the spine with a different material, such as cloth or paper, covering the remainder of the book is referred to as quarter leather or quarter cloth. Quarter and Half bindings were developed as a way to minimize use of the more expensive binding materials by covering the rest of the book cover in a more economical material such as cloth or paper.

Bound volumes with missing or detached spines

Three of the bound music scores were missing the spine all together and one book had a detached spine. The leather at the spines and fore edge corners was dry and brittle. In some cases, the leather had worn away to reveal the book board underneath. 

Tail edge of damaged volume before treatment

Mended pages during the treatment process

After restoration treatment

The paper sides, in this case blue paste paper, were also damaged and worn, particularly at the edges. The text block pages were in fairly good condition, but there were some tears and losses, including insect damage in a few places.

The interior pages were mended with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste. The covering material required several steps of treatment. The leather was treated with Klucel-G, a consolidant that also helps prevent the leather from burning (darkening) during the mending process as it is exposed to the moisture of the paste.
 

Worn leather fore edge corner with damaged board underneath

Rebuilding the board with linen cord remnants and adhesive

The book board was consolidated as well, and in some cases it was rebuilt where it was too damaged or was missing parts. 

During treatment - Japanese paper applied, then toned to match

After treatment - corners fully restored

Toned Japanese paper was applied over the exposed book board and then further toned with watercolor to more closely resemble the original covering material of either leather or paste paper. A coat of Klucel-G was applied over the newly attached Japanese paper and watercolor to further seal and protect the Japanese paper and to match the sheen of the original leather.

Spines during treatment

Spine reattached and secured with toned Japanese paper

The new spines were created with Japanese paper laminated to Irish linen to lend strength, then attached to the books. The one remaining original spine was reattached over the laminated Japanese paper and Irish linen.

Four volumes after treatment

Not all of the books we treat receive full restoration such as these. For example, the priority for a book in the generally circulating collection is to return it to service quickly having been repaired in a method that can withstand the use of many patrons over a long period of time. Though we make every effort to create a tidy, attractive repair, the priority is the strength and speed of the repair. Though the restoration of the four volumes of cello music provides a functional and aesthetically pleasing solution, it required a much more time-consuming process and is perhaps not capable of receiving the regular handling as a book in the general collection.

Nonetheless, it is a treat for us to do restoration work as it is a change of pace and often provides such satisfying results, though more challenging work to do.

No Boundaries in Preservation - Preservação sem Fronteiras - Preservación sin Fronteras

No Boundaries in Preservation has completed its project awarded by last year's University Libraries grant. It has accomplished its initial educational purpose, which was to provide equitable access to basic, relevant preservation and conservation information to a wider and diverse community of libraries and archives in the United States and abroad.

It was quite a journey through the year of 2015/2016 for those who participated in this project, directly or indirectly, doing research, filming, editing, translating and creating five original videos and posters, in three different languages. Not to mention the generosity of others in proof reading the materials, creating the website and collaborating to the content.

The result is a total of thirty educational resources! The theme of each original video and poster results from the answers of an online survey regarding preservation and conservation of books and documents.

Our mission to assist others has not ended and we ensure that the continuity of guidance in the field of preservation of books, documents and family heritage will be kept alive.

Website at http://library.uncg.edu/preserve/

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