Here’s a very old Webster's Dictionary from 1894 that had lost its luster. This was a custom conservation and rebuild for a holiday gift. The front and back covers were still intact, but the leather needed to be dyed and treated. The challenging part of this preservation project was centered on the spine; it was attached with glue to the text block itself, which can be a problem for the stability of the book itself. The old spine was removed and a new spine was created by our conservation specialist, Emily.
Often with a book of this age, there are hubs to repair. These are the raised ridges that run horizontally on the spine of older books. Repair did not include that here. For this spine, stamped labels were created to attach the new spine.
It was a very successful repair for this handsome dictionary. It is ready to give its owner many years and decades of renewed service.
Before & After Photos
