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
