I have a pretty old book that has a hard cardboard sleeve that’s really frayed at the corners, so that the bottom part of it is coming off a bit. What kind of glue would you use? I want to keep it from fraying again or damaging/having weird effects on the material over time.
I’d recommend going to a nearby library, asking the librarians about their own book mending process and getting their advice. Most do their own book repair.
Without being able to see it (and I’m no expert anyway), it’s hard to recommend anything specific, but whatever you end up using (glue, tape, etc.), make sure it’s labeled “archival”. That’ll ensure it won’t discolor or whatever down the line.
Thanks!
I bind my own books using fiberboard and leather, and wood glue has always worked for me. My oldest book is around 9 years old and it is still going strong
Nice. Where do you get the leather?
A lot of them are actually just re-purposed leather or pleather from jackets I find at swap meets and thrift stores. I also occasionally get scrap leather from my dads friend who owns a ranch
I have a related question. I have some very, very, very nice editions of books that are in pristine condition. They were held in protected cardboard boxes and the boxes did their job well while the books were in long-term storage for almost a decade. But the boxes themselves are in very rough shape. The actual surfaces are fine (except for a minor scuff mark on one, but I already know how I’m going to get rid of that). The problem is that the lids are coming apart at the corners, turning the lid into a flat piece of carboard with four flaps instead of, you know, a lid.
What would be the best way to repair those corners so that it looks at least passable to casual inspection. The boxes are cardboard covered with textured black … something paper, but not card stock, nor regular paper. Where they’re torn at the corners, the card stock, no longer contained by the black covering layer, has kind of, over the years, puffed out and gone feathery, so even if I glue the corners back together with something, they won’t be that nice textured black all the way.
Does anybody have any ideas how to repair this, or should I just embrace the look of covers which did the perfect job of protection and look like wounded warriors or something?
a hard cardboard sleeve
So is it more like a slipcase, then?
Yes! Exactly that. Thank you for the word.
Wouldn’t tape be better? Something like thin crystal Tesa? https://www.tesa.com/de-de/buero-und-zuhause/tesafilm-kristall-klar-ean-4042448036285.html
Unfortunately does not seem to be available wider than 19mm. But the industrial stuff is much wider, and very thin.
Thought about this, but another book of a similar age has tape like this on it and it unfortunately turned yellow and opaque and covered up what was underneath. It’s old tape so maybe modern tape doesn’t do that? But I’m not sure how to be certain.
