A coworker asked me to repair this early-1900s White House
Cookbook. He loved the worn and stained covers and wanted the book to remain
that way, just put together so he could page through it. I made endpaper
sections with the flyleaves, giving them linen hinges and sekishu blank pages
to protect the front illustration from the acidic, brittle facing page. I
applied acid-free tissue to protect the illustrations within the book. A
grayish buckram remnant turned out to be the right match for the cover material—at
least, on the back. The front cover had browned due to cooking grease and
foodstains, so I toned the front joint with some acrylic paint. I took photos
and made a collage of the process to accompany the book, along with a detailed
treatment sheet. A fair amount of work goes into even a modest repair that doesn’t
clash with the book. My coworker was happy with the book and the collage. He
even appreciated the toned front joint.
