The Practical Guide to Book Repair and Conservation

by Arthur W. Johnson

Teaches book repair and cleaning techniques, and discusses chemical treatments and archive preservation

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Art

Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

Reviews

[Eloise]

This book is single-handedly getting me through next semester 😆

[Jo]

I'd say this book is geared more towards conservation than repair, and I'm geared more towards repair (public library materials department) than conservation. Johnson also tends to write like I know what he's talking about, but being entirely self-taught, I found myself reading bits and not absorbing a word because I don't know the words he's using. For example, all on pages 72-73:

"The caoutchouc method of binding..."
"...make up by guarding into sections...."
"Sewing cord is glued into the channels and the book backed, lined and forwarded in the sunk-cord style."

I'm pretty sure the words "caoutchouc," "guarding," and "forwarded" don't come up anywhere else in the book. Though I did skip the sections on leather, so maybe they're in there? Or I read them, didn't know what Johnson was talking about, and they didn't stick. Either way, I'm lost.

If you know what you're doing, I'm sure this is great. For amateur noobs like me, it's a little over my head. But at least I know what "tipping in" means....

[Mills College Library]

686 J662 1992