The conservation of Annotationes in Libro Evangeliorum using a natural cloth hollow over a moulded Japanese paper spine-former

Abstract

Summary This paper describes the conservation treatment of a 1641 Amsterdam-printed folio in a contemporary English tight-back trade binding. Transverse linen liners were used to improve board hinging, and consolidation, with gelatine, of the detaching leather grain layer is described. A method of supporting the consolidated leather using a natural cloth hollow over a moulded Japanese paper spine-former, enabling the spine to open as a shallow but semi-rigid arc, is explained.