The Repair of “L’Empire Colonia De La France Indo-Chine”
Books that have some form of attempted repair by someone who is obviously not a bookbinder or book conservator, it usually comes with Scotch-tape, also known as Sellotape. This book belongs to a Rare Book Collection in an Institution’s library and I was commissioned to repair it.
The binding looks modern, perhaps some time in the 70s or 80s, because the decorative paper that was used with the quarter leather binding is a strange material that as seen in the photographs, has a moray pattern and texture to it.
The hinge on the front was about 60% detached, and after consolidating the leather, I lifted the parts that have broken, and inserted a thinly pared leather between the original leather and the boards. Thankfully, the calf leather I had was similar in colour to the original leather and I did not have to do much toning. The inner hinges were repaired using Japanese kozo tissue and left untoned.
One fascinating thing about this book is that it is a collection of journals that were bound together into a volume. The library stamp inside the book was by a “Mobilization And Intelligence Department” and coincidently, stamped on my birthday, November 5th. But it was way before I was born, in 1903.