Thank you for this concise, professional video. I came here for the repair, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments. I thought I was a lone dinosaur who still loves books over the text on a screen. So glad to know there are others of us as well!
Good job on the instructions and on the actual book repair. I have some books in similar and worse condition that I may need to repair, and this will really help. Thanks.
Excellent video, I learned a lot from it. I would be inclined to replace the headbands at the same time as these are almost impossible to fit later. Also, it's very much easier and more accurate to measure in millimetres. I am embarking on the conservation and repair of 12 rare and valuable volumes against which professional bookbinders quoted vast sums. I reckon I've got a pleasurable month's worth of work ahead of me with an almost zero materials cost. Many thanks UNCG.
Very informative! I love learning things like this about everyday objects that you don’t often give a second thought. And repairing and extending the life of something that many people would throw away is a big plus! 😀
I like the spine repair, but myself, I would have lifted the top of the endpapers next to the spine so that I could glue the tags over and underneath the endpaper to hide them.
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. These videos were originally created for school media specialists to provide a quick and inexpensive way to repair books and get them back into circulation. So, details like lifting the card pocket were not demonstrated. In the conservation lab, I would lift both the pocket and the pasted down endsheet to tuck the bookcloth underneath. That is a little more complicated though, so I tried to keep it simple. Very fair comment though!
Thanks for the great video. Unfortunately since the videos are trimmed to exactly 30 minutes, we lose the end part of the video. Not sure if anyone is responding to questions, but I am curious about the decision to fold the fabric tab over the card pocket instead of removing the card pocket first.
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. This was one of the first videos I had created and I did not realize it would be clipped at 30 minutes. These videos were originally created for school media specialists to provide a quick and inexpensive way to repair books and get them back into circulation. So, details like lifting the card pocket were not demonstrated. In the conservation lab, I would lift both the pocket and the pasted down endsheet to tuck the bookcloth underneath. That is a little more complicated though, so I tried to keep it simple. Very fair question though!
I am SO sorry! I didn't know the video would get clipped at 30 mins. Here is a resource for supplies if you are still interested: uncg.libguides.com/preservationservices/suppliesandtools
Thank you! Very clear description. I used it as a guide to repair the spine on a 1908 book. I think placing the new material under the old on the coverworked out for the best on my repair, as there was a design on the cover.
Im a junk journal maker and planning on using some of my.canvas painting work to cover the front and back...but couldnt find anything on how to deal with the spine... As the canvases to not go all the way across...this gives me an idea tho...thanks... Yes i know u would be horrified at the binding technique but its art not just a book.
I love this video ... it's so useful! However, the video was cut off before you could tell about supplies. I'm having a difficult time getting book cloth, especially. You're just two states north of me, and obviously have a source. Would you please share this information?
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. This was one of the first videos I had created and I did not realize it would be clipped at 30 minutes. Here are a couple of sources: www.talasonline.com/Buckram-Bookcloth OR www.dickblick.com/products/books-by-hand-book-cloth/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=12845-5089&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl7qSBhD-ARIsACvV1X1i1-UKPO5p78-nrOOxKBSUR6kud00P76W_oQZOKag2raOFmjT3ujkaAosmEALw_wcB
Really...such good professionnel tuto, clear, fast, very interesting. I have two dictionnaries to repair and with this video I will start doing it. Thank you so much.
What adhesive are you using? I bought a 20 volume set of rare books, that I am excited to start restoring. I am afraid to use straight PVC in case I make a mistake and ruin it. I would also like to make it so a real conservator in the future can fix any mistakes I might make. I am also concerned that pure starch might not be strong enough for spine repair. Thank you!
I have a very large world atlas that has a broken spine. Most of the materials suggested here are considerably smaller than the length of the book from top to bottom. Any suggestions for addressing this? Thank you.
Regards the 'grain' of paper which you mention, most of my books are from 17thC to mid 19thC and are printed on hand laid paper. Does the paper in these books have a 'grain' to it?
Great video. I do have one question regarding the tabs. Could you lift the inside cover paper at the top and bottom with your spatula and hide the tabs under the paper?
What I noticed is, when you e.g. lifted the old front cover cloth to slide the new spine underneath, the book cloth actually became separated from the rest of the cloth wrapped around the edge of the boards. But because you had those tabs on either side of the spine, when they were glued down, they now protected the edge of the boards.So I guess you want to make sure that the amount you lift is not greater than the width of the tabs?
I have a book from 1921 thats in pretty rough shape. The outside and spine have completely come off after a bit of freezing treatment from bugs. The linen is also holding onto dear life, but I don't have replacement available for that. Is the linen washable? Also, the outside of the book seems to be losing colour as the cover is turning into red dust from handling. Is there a way to protect the cover but still use it for the book? I would rather not replace it with new material. Thank you if you reply! This video was still very helpful🧡
Check out our other videos to find one about repairing torn pages. I'd have to see the 1/2 inch book to really make a good suggestion. It is a little more complicated to repair a spine without replacing it, unless you simply tape it or something like that. I am not recommending tape, just saying that it can get complicated to repair a spine. Sorry, as I'm sure that isn't the answer you were looking for.
Great video....But what about when the outer layer of the spine is too damaged. I ask because I have an extraordinary collection of over one hundred first editions that had all their spines singed in a Fire! Valuable books but all the spines (leather for the most part - 100yr old books) are ruined. Otherwise books are in excellent condition
So sorry for the VERY late reply. Yes, PVA. You can use simple white school glue, like Elmer's, or a more archival version. For the latter, search for neutral pH PVA.
I have 2 books of mathematical tables from the 1950s with one edge of the spine cover loose. One is a very large book of 10 place natural trig functions that I just received, I think the condition is decent except one loose edge the other is more normal size, same issue. These books saw heavy use during their heyday. I have other ones which have held together better.
Here's a link and so sorry for the VERY late reply: www.webstaurantstore.com/7-3-4-polypropylene-sandwich-spreader-with-webstaurantstore-logo/176SS7WEB.html?GoogleShopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl7qSBhD-ARIsACvV1X2Q8XLb-0ALrU9u_Ap52L_rTZAw78VCCKN9qyUw4N9hsAMpSmLfTlMaAm4UEALw_wcB
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. These videos were originally created for school media specialists to provide a quick and inexpensive way to repair books and get them back into circulation. So, I tried to keep things simple. It is sometimes possible to repair spines, but sometimes they have to be replaced all together. It also depends on the value and rarity of the book. I would treat a rare book different from a book in circulation at the library.
Wow, good eye...you make it very easy to understand how to make a binding repair...I have a very old leather bound book that I will now attempt to ruin :p
Thank you for this video! Two of my dad's favorite books have torn and the covers are coming off. One is a newer hardback and I don't know how that's happened so quickly. The other is a complete works of Poe from when I was a child, and is alsona favorite lf mine. Like an old friend. It will be wonderful if I can save them. ❤️
I have a old Bible from the 1800s never seen one like it in 12 yrs is like to get the covet back on I dropped it and its so heavy the cover fell off help
Interesting and thanks. Lifting existing book cloth up instead of trimming off board and going over it looks better, here, then elsewhere. Also, I learned the "spine" is part of the book case or cover (I was thinking of the edge binding or text block spine)
Thank you very much. Some helpful feed back: Repetitious parts can be fast-forwarded though and explanations of things that do not photograph well can be drawn on white board.
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. This was one of the first videos I had created and I did not realize it would be clipped at 30 minutes. These videos were originally created for school media specialists to provide a quick and inexpensive way to repair books and get them back into circulation. So, I was trying to keep it simple. Thanks for that suggestion to use a white board for steps that don't photograph well or are difficult to explain. I appreciate it very much!
This video is better than I can do. However, the top and bottom spine cords must have been left in? Also, the glue in the tab fold-overs without wax paper may bond with the front and back pages. I heard construction background noise.
Thank you so much for your comment and I am so very sorry for my very late reply. These videos were originally created for school media specialists to provide a quick and inexpensive way to repair books and get them back into circulation. So, I tried to keep things simple. You are correct that wax paper would be a great idea! Apologies for the construction noise.
@@desclarke5798 Yes, I was trying to keep it simple. In actual practice, I usually lift the pasted down endsheet and tuck the flaps underneath for a neater repair.
