Free Church Unity

Before treatment

보존처리 전

After treatment

보존처리 후

Identification and bibliographical details

Title/descriptive signifier: Free Church Unity

Author: E.K.H Jordan

Date text block: 1956

Dimensions (mm): (h) 210 (w) 130 (d) 26

Provenance: Ivy Kings, Cambridge, 1960

Date: 23.09.2022

Before treatment photo documentation

left board

right board

spine

opening of the textblock

Condition

Category 3 - conservation needed

Spine (book clothes, Manila) and right board are detached.
Cover: staining (left bottom)/ water damage (left top corner)/ abraded corners/ endcap loss (15mm)/ abrasion (edges of the board)
Light damage to the spine/ faded
Inner right joints broken
Text block is generally in good, clean condition. A little bit of staining.
Right endpaper detached
It could have had a jacket based on the fact that the front book cover has no title.

Treatment description

1. Dry surface cleaning

Dry surface cleaning using a soft Japanese brush was done to remove loose particles on the text block. Then a smoke sponge was used to remove any further surface dirt. This was done throughout the whole text block.

2. Cleaning the spine lining with a wheat starch paste poultice

A wheat starch paste poultice was applied to the spine, allowed to sit, and then the old animal glue and lining were scraped off with a blunt spatula (figure 1).

3. Reattaching the endpaper

Endpaper were reattached in the main text block by tipping the guarded last section and the endpapers. Tengujo paper was used for the tears on the paper, and Kozo paper to tip the endpapers to the text block.

4. Scouring & sizing

Aero linen was scoured by soaking it in the boiling mixture of detergent and water. Then it was placed on a flat surface and sized by brushing wheat starch paste.

5. Lining the spine & sewing

The dried Aero linen was adhered to strengthen the spine. Then, each of the first, middle, and last sections were pamphlets stiched to hold them all together.

6. Colour matching

The aero linen was toned to colour-match the covering of the book using acrylic paint.

7. Re-backing the spine

The spine was covered with toned aero linen using a wheat starch paste, and the extra width of the cloth was inserted between the board and the original covering material. The extra length and width of the cloth were turned over the outer edges of the boards from the outside to the inside.