Book repair/preservation

[SpaceBadger]

The cover has come off of my 30 year old copy of The Traveller Book. This is the softbound version; I believe this particular binding is called "perfect bound".

The pages are all still glued together along the spine. It is only the cover that is loose.

Any recommendations on gluing the cover back to the block of pages? Simplest thing would seems to be two or three lines of glue down the spine of the pages, press cover into place, clamp until dry.

I am just worried that by using the wrong method or the wrong kind of glue or something, I will make the situation worse and cause pages to fall out or the spine to get so stiff that the book cannot be read, or something like that.

 

[esampson]

Gluing along the spine is probably not the best option. Modern hard cover perfect bound books are almost always what is termed 'hollow backed', which means there's a gap between the spine and the cover.

I actually read an interesting book a few years back written by a book restorer who was decrying the use of hollow backs in modern printed books. It turns out the book I was reading was a reprint of something written in the first decade of the 20th century and I guess the guy who wrote it wasn't a fan of those new-fangled ways.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I have the same problem with my softcover TTB. I'm holding out hope that I find a hardcover version somewhere (and when I have the money to spend) to replace the one that got stolen from me.

 

[inexorabletash]

My 30 year old softcover copy of TTB is not hollow bound. From close inspection, it looks like a bead of glue along the spine would indeed do the trick.

Pro Tip: Put a very thin coating of glue on both surfaces and wait for the glue to get tacky before pressing them together.

Interesting wear variation. On mine the spine is in no danger of detaching, but another couple of decades and the front and back cover may tear off.

 

[esampson]

Doh! Never mind. I'm an idiot. You're talking about the softcover version.

Yeah, a couple of lines of glue would probably work fine. You just want to get a glue that is going to be very flexible, but since it only needs to hold the cover on and not hold the book together it shouldn't need to be too terribly strong. I would imagine that some rubber cement would probably do a great job (though I suspect a professional restorer would scream if he heard me say that).

If you want to be extra-super-careful then I would probably try a web search for book binding. There's enough people that pursue it as a hobby that you can find sites with supplies, such as the glue you would use along the spine of a flat back or rounded back book.

 

[Thanos]

Ask a librarian. They still have those, right?

 

[SpaceBadger]

I was thinking either good old Elmer's or else Gorilla Glue, but I will see if I have any rubber cement lying around or if it is not too expensive to buy for this one project.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Ask a librarian. They still have those, right?

Ah, good idea. Yes, we have a fairly nice library in town; if I bring the book in to show them and ask advice, they might even glue it for me with the correct glue right on the spot.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Interesting wear variation. On mine the spine is in no danger of detaching, but another couple of decades and the front and back cover may tear off.

Perhaps you were actually using yours over that time, whereas mine spent a good 25 of those years in a box. I think my problem was just aged glue rather than wear and tear through usage.

You could probably head off the loss of covers as you describe with a careful application of clear packing tape to reinforce the spine and the lines where the covers fold from the spine. That seems to be how the libraries do it.

 

[McPerth]

Mine had also its front cover near to falling, and I covered it with adhesive plastic film. Of course, this only works for covers, not for internal pages, but it's easy and cheap to do.