Caring for Old Books: Part Two
This article originally appeared in Exchange,
a newsletter published by the Wisconsin
Historical Society. (Volume 27, Number
2, March/April 1985) It is the 21st in a
series of articles titled Conservation Corner.
The series features information about maintaining
an adequate environment for the storage and exhibition
of historical collections, employing proper collection
care techniques, and recording and cataloging historical
collections.
It was written by Michael Edmonds, deputy administrator
of the Wisconsin Historical Society's library and
archives.
In another article in this series, Caring
for Old Books, Part One, I outlined the major threats to valuable
books posed by heat, light, humidity and everyday
handling, and I suggested ways you could combat them.
In this second article I'll explain three fundamental
rules of book conservation and describe some simple
restoration techniques that you can do yourself.
The old maxim about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of
cure applies quite well to old books. If you, your
staff, and your public handle them carefully, most
will never need repair. Don't stack
books in great piles, toss them into book-return slots,
cram too many onto a single shelf, or stuff them full
of newspaper clippings or bookmarks. Do use bookends on your tables
and shelves; arrange a space for large books to lay
flat; remove paperclips, pressed flowers, or other
harmful objects from books; and interrupt readers when
you see them leaning on books, forcing them down on
the xerox machine, or mistreating them in other ways.
Although you have a responsibility to serve researchers, you also
have a responsibility to preserve the books for their great-grandchildren.
Every collection has many books that need help, and there are a few
basic rules to observe whenever you carry out repairs.
The first rule of conservation is, "Never do anything irreversible." Make
sure that everything you do can be undone if necessary.
The second rule is, "Always
use acid-free materials." There is no point in "repairing" a book
if you introduce harmful materials in the process;
never use Scotch or self-adhesive cloth tapes, for
instance. High quality acid-free materials can be bought
from the suppliers listed below.
The third rule in conservation is, "Always practice first." When you want to repair a damaged book from your collection, first try out the procedure on an unimportant book. Buy a few books from the local Salvation Army store or a garage sale, and dissect them like a surgeon. Slice the hinges from the inside with a sharp knife to see how the covers and backstrip are fastened to the pages. Scrape the spine clean and see how the pages are sewn or pasted into gatherings and assembled. Figure out how the paper, gauze, thread, glue and cloth all fit together to make up a book. The knowledge you will get from this exercise is worth far more than the books you sacrifice.
Torn pages can be simply fixed by applying a transparent, acid-free paper tape (such as Filmoplast P) to both sides of the tear. Detached pages can be replaced by using the tape as a hinge: run a single long piece along the inner edge of the page, leaving half the width of the tape free; then insert the page in the book and affix the free portion of the tape to the adjacent page. The hinge can be strengthened by applying a second piece of acid-free tape in a similar fashion to the other side of the page, opposite the first.
The tops of the spines on many books have been split by carelessness when pulling the books from shelves. To repair these splits, cut a piece of acid-free paper which is small enough to slip inside the hollow spine of the book. Lightly coat one side of this paper with book paste (such as Schweitzer's Wheat Paste No. 6) and insert it into the hollow spine with the paste facing out. Press the torn edges of the spine against the pasted paper and rub smooth.
Books which have been heavily used are often loose in their cases making the cover's spine wobbly and loose in relation to the pages. To strengthen a book in its case, dip a knitting needle in a flexible glue and insert it into the hollow spine. Slip the glue-coated needle as far back under the loose endpaper as possible, depositing the glue on the inside of the endpaper. Withdraw the needle and lay a sheet of wax paper inside the cover to keep the glue from oozing through and sticking the two endpapers together. Leave the book under weights overnight. A short pile of books or a couple of bricks wrapped in brown paper make adequate weights.
These and many more advanced techniques of book repair are illustrated
and described in several different manuals. Two of
the most helpful are Cleaning and Preserving Bindings and Related
Materials
by Carolyn Horton (Chicago, American Library Association,
1969) and Bookbinding
and Conservation by Hand: A Working Guide, by Laura
S. Young (New York, Bowker, 1981). Both books list
suppliers of conservation materials, and you can find
advertisements for still more in Library
Journal and American Libraries (which
should be available at your local public library). Gaylord
Brothers ( 7272 Morgan Road, Liverpool, NY 13090; 800-272-3414)
and TALAS (130 5 th Avenue,
New York, New York 10011; 212-219-0770) are two suppliers
of book conservation materials who will gladly send
you their catalog or price list upon request. Demco (P.O.
Box 7488, Madison, WI 53707; 800-356-1200) carries
an inexpensive flexible glue.
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