Before Treatment After Treatment

Binding
This is a soft-case, tightback suede leather binding. The leather is a reddish-brown color and has been used so that the flesh-side is outward facing, while the grain side faces the textblock.

The suede was in very poor condition and extremely friable, particularly along the joints and at the endcaps. At the spine, it had darkened and lost the nap of the suede, possibly during the original casing-in process. The endcaps were torn, and with some losses at both ends. Any application of water would cause the suede to darken.

Textblock
The textblock is sewn, and made up of a thick, cream-colored paper. The text and images were printed with black printer's ink. The head is gilded with gold. The fore-edge was not ploughed. The textblock is attached to the case via the direct adherence of the leather at the spine, and also by the endpapers which are glued oly at the edges to both covers.
The case-to-text attachment was weakened. The endpapers were lifting away from the leather. The leather was delaminating from the spine of the textblock. The front endpaper had split from the textblock along the hinge.

A spot test was conducted in an inconspicuous place to determine if moisture would cause the leather to darken. The leather immediately darkened upon contact with the water. An identical test was also conducted using Klucel-G. The color change observed was acceptable when applied to the inside (the grain side of the leather) and along those areas on the spine that had already darkened.

1. Reinforce hinges from the inside using Moriki tissue and PVA.
2. Consolidate the leather on the spine and on the inside with Klucel-G
3. Minimally reattach endpapers using PVA.
4. Construct a box that would support the floppy suede case and also protect the suede from others, and also protect adjacent materials (and the hands and clothing of users) from the friable suede.

Possible Effects of Treatment
Given the extremely poor condition of the suede, it was not possible to use a traditionally reversible adhesive such as wheat-starch paste without adversely affecting the main characteristic and appareance of the binding. The use of PVA was determined to be an acceptable adhesive, as it was strong and would not penetrate and darken the suede when applied to the underside/inside of the case. This loss of water-based reversibility was acceptable because the reversal methods for other adhesives, such as wheat-starch paste and gelatin, would irreversibly darken the leather. Every effort was taken to preserve the appearance of the suede on the outside, which was considered the most important aesthetic quality of the binding.

1. The hinges were initially reinforced with Moriki tissue applied with PVA, but this method did not adequately address the overall structural issues with the case. More breaks in the leather were created at the edges of the mends, so this method was abandoned.
2. The case was removed entirely from the textblock, using dry mechanical methods only. The endpapers were also lifted from the case and reuinted with the textblock.
3. The textblock was cleaned with Methyl cellulose and a microspatula. New overhanging linings of heavyweight Japanese tissue were applied. The endpapers were reattached to the textblock via the overhanging linings that extended onto them.
4. The case was consolidated on the inside using two coats of Klucel-G applied with a brush. Klucel-G was also applied to the outside of the case along the spine, but care was taken to only apply it over those areas that were already darkened.
5. The case was lined overall, on the inside, using a single sheet of Moriki tissue adhered with PVA. Areas of loss at the headcaps were built up with layers of Moriki tissue applied with PVA, butted up to edges of the leather.
6. The textblock was reattached to the case using hinges of Japanese tissue attached 1/2 cm onto the textblock and extending about 1 cm onto the case. The spine was not directly readhered to the textblock, as this was determined to have too much potential to cause further damage to the case.
7. After recasing, it was noted that the edges of the outside joints were still flaking and crumbling. Therefore, a small channel was cut through the leather, right at the edge of the already-darkened leather and the still-friable suede. Thin strips Moriki tissue were then adhered with PVA along the joint, with the edges just brushing the edge of the undamaged suede on either side.
8. The binding was enclosed in a custom-made Mylar dust-jacket
9. A four-flap box was created to fit the book, with the addition of three supportive strips (at head, tail and fore-edge) of Ethafoam that fit the space between the textblock and the edge of the case.