Book in Need of Attention

On Saturday, I picked up a copy of "The English Works of John Wyclif Hitherto
Unprinted", published by the Early English Text Society. This is a 1902
paperback reprint of the 1880 first edition, which may or may not have been
hardcover, since none of the three listings on addall.com show the same
materials for the hardcover book, except those which refer to modern brown
library buckram boards and that says nothing about the original binding.

The book is falling apart into sections at the spine. When purchased there were
strips of some once clear scotch tape over the spine and a part of the sides.
Even through that and even with the breakup of the spine, one can still read the
title and publishing information on the spine. The scotch tape is not really
holding the book together anymore. It has, however, left the usual stain where
it once was.

The question is how should I repair this book? I have contemplated (a) finding
a wide, transparent pH neutral tape of sufficient strength, if one exists, and
and placing that over the spine and a quarter of each side; (b) a hardcover
binding of some type.

But this is new ground for me. So any help would be appreciated.


Francis A. Miniter

On Nov 12, 10:12 am, "Francis A. Miniter" <mini....TakeThisOut@attglobalZZ.net>
wrote:
> On Saturday, I picked up a copy of "The English Works of John Wyclif Hitherto
> Unprinted", published by the Early English Text Society. This is a 1902
> paperback reprint of the 1880 first edition, which may or may not have been
> hardcover, since none of the three listings on addall.com show the same
> materials for the hardcover book, except those which refer to modern brown
> library buckram boards and that says nothing about the original binding.
>
> The book is falling apart into sections at the spine. When purchased there were
> strips of some once clear scotch tape over the spine and a part of the sides.
> Even through that and even with the breakup of the spine, one can still read the
> title and publishing information on the spine. The scotch tape is not really
> holding the book together anymore. It has, however, left the usual stain where
> it once was.
>
> The question is how should I repair this book? I have contemplated (a) finding
> a wide, transparent pH neutral tape of sufficient strength, if one exists, and
> and placing that over the spine and a quarter of each side; (b) a hardcover
> binding of some type.
>
> But this is new ground for me. So any help would be appreciated.

A few years ago, in a used bookstore, I bought a copy of the EETS
edition of the *Laud Troy Book* in which two paperback volumes (also
1902, coincidentally) were bound together in boards covered in bright
blue buckram, with just "The Laud Troy Book" printed in white on the
spine. It looks exactly like a library rebinding (and is clearly
recent), but there are no library markings anywhere in the book or on
the binding. I wonder what a basic binding job like this costs.

RPN