Book Repair on a Budget: Hardcover Corner Repair

As the covers of hardcover books get worn, the fore edge corners start fray and delaminate. This is a demonstration of how to repair the corners.
UPDATE: I am so sorry that I left out the name of the resources. The glue is polyvinyl acetate or PVA. White school glue, such as Elmer's, is PVA. Or, for a more archival version, search for neutral pH PVA. For a list of other book repair resources, see our Preservation Libguide: uncg.libguides...

[@j.walker6845]

I and my precious book thank you!

[@ricdavid7476]

thanks very useful and hello from london UK

[@SaraMGreads]

Thanks this was helpful!

[@treemoon6394]

I found a 1957 hardcover Greek and English Bible, the cover spine has tears on either side of the bottom of it. It's a little warn, the blue of the cover has faded. It looks like the one you present I'd like to restore and repair it. Do you have any suggestions? It's a cloth hardcover.

[@VISHAL-qg7ds]

Nyc very helpful

[@xunk16]

Well, just tried this to repair a corner on a faux leather RPG hardcover. (These books see unusual weathering and amounts of handling...) I just hope the heavy-duty leather adhesive repair patch (Pelle Patch) we bought for this wasn't too rigid. It's normally to repair holes in furniture and car chairs... however, you did say to use "book paper" as close to the original cover we had and, well... This was it. (That I could find.) Plus, I kinda wanted to overcompensate for the use I know this books will still see in its existence. At least, the manipulation for the fold and crease worked. Might be a tad bit too thick though. We also bought metal corners to further solidify and prevent future wear. At least that was the idea, but now I'm not sure if they wouldn't also represent an higher risk to tear down the cardboard. Any advice? And, technically, we only repaired / reinforced one corner for now. There was a second corner which might have needed it ( the cardboard is beginning to become floppy inside) but the leather hasn't ruptured yet, and so, I'm hesitant to open it for the gluing process. Is it better to forcefully open it / cut it and reinforce sooner? Or wait for the wear to do its job and naturally create an opening to operate?

[@uncgarchives]

I am so sorry for my very late reply, but thank you so much for your comments and questions. I imagine you have already taken care of the book. It sounds like the material you chose is probably fine. It may be somewhat acidic though. It's hard to know how the faux leather was manufactured, so without more information I can't speak to how long it will last or if it will cause other problems. The thickness may be more than you needed, but it sounds like it is doing the job... and that is the goal - to be able to use the book. My suggestion about the corner that is delaminating would be to go ahead and split it and try to get adhesive in between as many layers as possible. Apply pressure to it while it is drying, such as wrapping with wax paper and cardboard and clamping it while it dries. Again, so sorry for the way overdue reply as I am only now seeing the comments.

[@xunk16]

@@uncgarchives You are right that after so long, this answer comes as a bit of a surprise! XD But is welcomed nonetheless, it isn't out of usefulness yet. The book in question has remained in more or less the same state since that time, because of careful handling. The Pelle Patch repair seems to hold and remain very solid to this day, so there is that bit of luck. However, the book also will see more travel again soon... so this answers comes back also at an appropriate time. If I follow you correctly, you would ignore the metal corner add-on but act preemptively on glue reinforced corners? (While they get softer but before the textile or leather rupture naturally?)

[@uncgarchives]

@@xunk16 Since it is your own book and you will be keeping an eye on it, you can add the reinforcement to the corners when you think it needs it. In the library, I receive books for repair and need to do some preventative work. I would go ahead and treat something like that if I saw it was going to be a problem in the future, but that's only because I might not have it on my bench again until the damage is much worse.

[@xunk16]

@@uncgarchives Duly noted, thanks! :)

[@suematthews731]

Can you please explain what you mean by starch-filled paper? Where could I find that?

[@uncgarchives]

Sue, thanks for your question and I am so very sorry I am only now seeing your question. Here are two sources for it: www.talasonline.com/Buckram-Bookcloth OR www.dickblick.com/products/books-by-hand-book-cloth/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=12845-5089&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl7qSBhD-ARIsACvV1X1i1-UKPO5p78-nrOOxKBSUR6kud00P76W_oQZOKag2raOFmjT3ujkaAosmEALw_wcB

[@jromekoolaid142]

Thank you soo much! This helped me soo much, but can you use rubber cement? And what glue are you using?

[@HARLANGENEPARROTT]

elmers school glue

[@uncgarchives]

Hello! So sorry for the late reply, but thank you for your question. I would not recommend rubber cement. It can break down over time and is not as good as polyvinyl acetate (PVA) type glues. Regular white school glue as mentioned below works fine. For a more archival version of PVA, search for neutral pH PVA online.