Treating a $5 book with respect

A friend asked me to repair THE RED KNIGHT OF GERMANY for a friend of his. In my written repair estimate, I noted that the repair would cost more than the value of the book. (Many identical copies are online for $5 and up.) My friend assured me that his friend didn't care about that. Although the book did not have any personal inscription or notes, apparently it meant a lot to its owner. So, I did a detailed repair and rebacking. I also created a collage of photos of the process, so the owner could see that the book had received respectful treatment.

The finished repair.

Wheat paste softens the old glue so it's easier to scrape off.

After I repaired the tattered cover edges with black Moriki, the spine strip is ready to apply.

I had repair tissue that matched the browned paper.

First, the covers and spine had to be carefully removed.

For a smoother spine, I put on a paper spine liner, let it dry, and sanded it. Then I applied another spine liner of the same paper.

Before the book came to me, someone had forced white glue down into the hollow of the spine to  tighten it. These  "fixes" make the repair a lot harder. The poor spine was battered and fragile.