Before treatment one.

Before treatment one.

Chappe d'Auteroche, abbé. Voyage en Sibérie, vol. 1. Paris: Debure, pere, 1768. The covers of this volume were detached. In order to provide support for the book during exhibition, the covers were reattached by a method called board tacketing. In this technique, loops of thread extend from the text of the book, exiting on the spine near the shoulders, and extend onto the boards in order to attach them to the textblock. The leather along the spine edge of the boards was lifted so the pieces of thread could be hidden under the leather. Strips of Japanese paper dyed to match were adhered in the gap between the boards and the spine to add strength to the tackets. Additional strips of Japanese paper were toned blue in order to blend in with the blue endpapers and were adhered along the inside joints of the book . The color was chosen to be sympathetic with the endpapers but was designed not to match exactly so the repair would be apparent to future users and conservators.

April 2003

Whitney Baker