Derry Book 10

De Politia Jv DIACA, shelf mark JI c7 (1574) is a full leather binding sewn on raised bands. On receipt the spine was severely damaged and the cords broken at back joint.

The textblock required some repair including, dry cleaning, relaxing creases, and paper repair. The parchment guard at the back of the book was removed, humidified, flattened and repaired then resewn to the textblock with a new handmade endpaper. Once all paper repairs were completed the book was given a Japanese paper lining to consolidate the textblock.

Once the textblock was stable a new point of attachment from the back board to the textblock was needed. To do this I used sewing thread sewn around the original cords and slowly built up enough thread to create a cord. These new cords were then laced through the original lacing holes.

With the board now securely attached a new toned leather reback was applied to the spine. The original leather was then adhered on top of the new spine leather and the cover boards. It should be noted that the original spine had a paper label on the second panel; this label was not reattached to the rebacked book as it extended onto the joints of the book. The label was however retained and boxed with the item.

Back board before conservation

Back board after conservation

New cords sewn in place and laced into original holes

Head before conservation

Head after conservation

Spine before conservation

Spine after conservation

Inside of front cover before conservation

Inside of front cover after conservation

Inside of back cover before conservation

Inside of back cover after conservation

Derry Book 9

Avli Persii Flacci Satyrae Sex, shelf mark HI e19 (1602) is a limp vellum binding. On receipt it was completely missing the front cover with only a small area containing the original slips remaining, however the textblock however was still securely attached to the case by its alum tawed slips.

Due to the severe damage to the last few pages and the unstable state of the title page and first section these pages were removed, washed, repaired and sewn back into place. New handmade endpapers were also sewn in around the original supports to protect the textblock.

A new piece of toned vellum was used to make a new front cover. The repair piece was cut to size, turned in and the inside corners sewn with parchment tape to secure them. Rather than adhere the repair piece to the inside of the original spine the piece was cut in a comb shape with the combs extending into the space between the sewn textblock and the parchment cover. This repair was chosen for two reasons, first it will give much needed protection to the textblock and second it is easily removable as it is not adhered or mechanically attached to the book.

Front cover before conservation

New front cover

Inside of new front cover

Title page before conservation with temporary endpaper attached

Title page after conservation

Inside of back cover before conservation

Inside of back cover after paper repair with new sewn in endpaper

Derry Book 7

Josephi Langii Caesaremontani, shelfmark F f25 (1612) is a full leather bound volume sewn on alum tawed thongs. On receipt it was in poor condition with the spine of the textblock missing a large portion, leaving the spine folds vulnerable.

First the book was cleaned, creased pages relaxed and torn pages mended. In addition a back bead sewing was used to tack the original endbands in place. Once the textblock was stable a new point of attachment from board to textblock was needed. To do this I used sewing thread sewn around the original cords and slowly built up enough thread to create a cord. These new cords were then laced through the original lacing holes.

With the boards reattached a new Japanese paper lining was pasted on the spine with a flange extending onto the outside of the boards. Toned archival calf was then used to make a new leather reback and repair the board corners. The original cover and spine leather were then reattached to the rebacked book.

Front cover before conservation

Front cover after conservation

Back cover before conservation

Back cover after conservation

Spine before conservation

Spine after conservation with new leather reback

Head before conservation

View of head after conservation with new leather spine and repaired corners

Inside of front board before conservation

Inside of front cover after conservation

Derry Book 6

On receipt Gvillielmi Amesil de Conscientia Ed Eivs Ivre (shelf mark JI a6, 1635) was in fair condition. While the leather joints were weak or broken the textblock was in stable condition. The textblock was consolidated by pasting a Japanese paper lining to the spine with a flange extending onto the outside of the boards for added stability. Toned archival calf leather was then used to make a new leather reback and the original cover and spine leather was pasted back into place.

Front cover before conservation

Front cover after conservation

Back cover before conservation

Back cover after conservation

View of spine before conservation

View of spine after conservation

Inside joint before conservation

Inside of front cover after conservation

Title page before conservation

Title page with Japanese paper repair

Derry Book 8

Grammatia, Hebraea Eliae Levitae, shelf mark HI a12 (1552) was in very poor condition on receipt. A large percentage of the leather was damaged or missing with the majority of the turn-in leather severely damaged. While the textblock was in fairly good condition the parchment guards, endpapers, title page and last few pages were worn and damaged. These pages were repaired and the parchment guards removed. They were then humidified, photographed, repaired and resewn into place with a new handmade endpaper attached. The existing endband was also tacked down using a back bead sewing.

Once the textblock was stable a new point of attachment from board to textblock was needed. To do this I used sewing thread sewn around the original cords and slowly built up enough thread to create a cord. These new cords were then laced through the original lacing holes. Next a Japanese paper lining was pasted in place with a flange extending onto the outside of the boards.

Finally a toned archival calf leather reback was applied using Canadian wheat starch paste. Repairs to the missing portions of the cover leather were made using the German style. This involved pasting the repair leather to the reverse of the original and paring it from the back until it was the same thickness as the original. This method helped to maintain a smooth transition from original to new leather. Once the repairs were to the correct thickness the original leather was pasted to the cover boards and spine.

Front cover before conservation

Front cover after conservation

Back cover before conservation

Back cover after conservation

Spine before conservation

Spine after conservation

Head before conservation

Head after conservation

Inside of front cover before conservation

Inside of front cover after conservation

Inside of back cover before conservation

Inside of back board after conservation