Finally....A Saturday Off
I've finally gotten one Saturday off to deal with things that needed doing around the house. Normally I would be working on the streetcar, except that the line had to be taken out of service due to damage to a switch and parts of the overhead power transmission wire that occurred this past week. The line should be open for business next weekend though. Anyways, the afternoon temperatures here have been above 105, so I didn't miss being outside.
I picked up my 1902 edition of The Cincinnati Southern Railway: A History and noted some problems that needed immediate attention. There were about four minor tears on different pages that required taping. The biggest problem was that the original cloth surfaces where the covers and spine come together were starting to develop holes along the edges. I repaired this damage by going down to the local arts and crafts store and purchasing appropriately colored fabric patch material that irons on. It's not a perfect color match, but it looks okay and will prevent further damage to the binding. I didn't really want to tape the page tears-the tape might discolor with age. However, it will prevent the tears from getting any worse and stabilize the condition of the pages that had damage. Patching the spine didn't make any significant change to the book's appearance as there was no title or author information there. The pages are of a very high quality paper-no discoloration after 100+ years and gold leafed edges-a work of art compared to most present day books.
I also had to do minor page repairs on one of my two 1900 editions of Legal History of the Entire System of Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and Possessions. The copy that I repaired has been rebound and has minor foxing of the frontispiece. The other copy is in need of cover rebinding, but has the original cover which I hope to have replicated. That will have to wait until I have the money to do it and can locate a suitable book bindery.
I picked up my 1902 edition of The Cincinnati Southern Railway: A History and noted some problems that needed immediate attention. There were about four minor tears on different pages that required taping. The biggest problem was that the original cloth surfaces where the covers and spine come together were starting to develop holes along the edges. I repaired this damage by going down to the local arts and crafts store and purchasing appropriately colored fabric patch material that irons on. It's not a perfect color match, but it looks okay and will prevent further damage to the binding. I didn't really want to tape the page tears-the tape might discolor with age. However, it will prevent the tears from getting any worse and stabilize the condition of the pages that had damage. Patching the spine didn't make any significant change to the book's appearance as there was no title or author information there. The pages are of a very high quality paper-no discoloration after 100+ years and gold leafed edges-a work of art compared to most present day books.
I also had to do minor page repairs on one of my two 1900 editions of Legal History of the Entire System of Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and Possessions. The copy that I repaired has been rebound and has minor foxing of the frontispiece. The other copy is in need of cover rebinding, but has the original cover which I hope to have replicated. That will have to wait until I have the money to do it and can locate a suitable book bindery.