Paper Repair

Torn pages are very common in well-used books such as these textbooks and Sunday school books. If a small tear is left unmended, it can easily become a larger tear or even a loss (when a piece of the page goes missing). Paper repair for special collections materials is done with very thin Japanese paper and wheat starch paste. Paste is the preferred adhesive because it is water soluble. If the repair should ever have to be undone, it can easily be removed in water. When completed, the repair should be almost invisible.

Author:: Knowles, James D. (James Davis), 1798-1838
Title:: Life of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, late missionary to Burmah ; with an account of the American Baptist mission to that empire.
Publisher:: Philadelphia, American Sunday School Union, 1830
Call Number:: BV3271.J81 K6
Description:: 266 p., front. (port.) plates 15 cm.
Note:: Page images and full text transcriptions (pdf) available on the Web as part of the digitization project "Shaping the Values of Youth: Sunday School Books in 19th Century America."
Permanent record:: catalog.lib.msu.edu/Record/folio.in00000138462

This page was extremely fragile and there were large voids. These were filled with a thin Japanese paper to support what was left of the original.

Author:: Prescott, A. B. (Albert Benjamin), 1832-1905
Title:: First book in qualitative chemistry
Publisher:: New York : D. Van Nostrand, 1892.
Edition:: Edition 7th ed., rev.
Call Number:: QD83 .P74 1892
Description:: 162, p. ; 19 cm.
Permanent record:: catalog.lib.msu.edu/Record/folio.in00002578244

book with stained pages — Many of the pages in this book were stained with an oil-like substance. In the worst affected areas, the paper has actually been eaten away. Removing the stains may be impossible, but the paper can be washed and then reinforced with Japanese paper to stop further damage.

Author:: White, Emerson E. (Emerson Elbridge), 1829-1902
Title:: A new complete arithmetic : uniting oral and written exercises
Publisher:: New York : American Book Co., c1883.
Call Number:: QA103 .W63 1883b
Description:: 362 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.
Permanent record:: catalog.lib.msu.edu/Record/folio.in00003372389

book with pages indicating damage to the textblock — When the pages of a book look like this, there is bound to be some damage to the textblock. In this case, the book needs extensive paper repair and to be resewn.

book with pages torn from the textblock — Many of the pages had been torn from the textblock. After the book is disbound, the pages will be repaired so they can be sewn again.

book with damaged or missing pages — The last several pages of the book were extensively damaged and missing large sections.

book with scribbles and doodles — Many of these school books have scribbles and doodles from their original owners. While surface dirt is removed from soiled pages, such marking are not removed since they are part of the provenance of the volume.

book after repair for missing endsheets — The original endsheets are missing, a new, acid-free sheet is inserted to help protect the textblock.

book after torn pages were repaired — The last few torn and tattered pages look like after being repaired.

book after being resewn and pages repaired — View of the resewn book opened to reveal repairs on the page as well as in the "gutter", along the spine where the book is sewn.