Book Repair

[Zaharoff]

Hello fellow bookhounds:

If you are like me, you come across your fair share of battered or, for one reason or another, undesired books.
Christmas gift of Bird Whistling In Tennessee, signed by a well meaning, but insane aunt.
A collectible at Thrift Town, only it's warped.

Anyway, I found this brilliant tutorial on how to mend damaged books.
With ordinary household items!

BOOK RPAIRS - Removing the lean from a book and ink inscriptions - YouTube

[Kevin]

Great info; we could all use this at one time or another.

Err....a bit violent, though.

[Ucasuni]

The bookworm equivalent of rickrolling. Brilliant.

[bendk]

If you ever want to pretty-up a book that you have that lacks a dust jacket, I would recommend this site. I have only used it twice, but both with excellent results. Years ago, I won The Machine to Kill by Gaston Leroux - an entertaining novel! - on eBay for only $5. I figured I saved enough money with that bid that I could afford to drop $20 for a facsimile dust jacket. They have a lot of Arkham House dust jackets and beautiful photoplay editions. Check out the ones for King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man.

https://www.dustjackets.com/

[Zaharoff]

I couldn't really tell what book the repair guy was working on.
Kept wondering though, "What if that's an Ex Occidente title?"

[Speaking Mute]

Tape eventually yellows and further degrades paper though, and the way it stiffens pages can make it easier to tear them in other places - for rare and valuable books, I'd recommend this technique to mend tears:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6H9qyIHrVo

As a midway between convenience and conservation, there's also repair tape:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/li...t-repair-tape/

[Ucasuni]

Quote Originally Posted by Speaking Mute

Tape eventually yellows and further degrades paper though, and the way it stiffens pages can make it easier to tear them in other places - for rare and valuable books, I'd recommend this technique to mend tears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6H9qyIHrVo As a midway between convenience and conservation, there's also repair tape: http://www.dickblick.com/products/li...t-repair-tape/

@Speaking Mute—I mean, I think this was kind of the point that the guy was trying to make. If you want it done right, you need a professional (or at least a great deal of skill). Cheap and easy do-it-yourself is basically cheap and easy wreck-it-yourself.

...I am actually starting to wonder how many people thought this was sincere now...

[Kevin]

In good faith I had assumed it was sincere, until the dude broke the book in half with a rolling pin.

But truth be told, I've had a book or two restored, and the process can be fascinating.

[Ucasuni]

Quote Originally Posted by Kevin

In good faith I had assumed it was sincere, until the dude broke the book in half with a rolling pin. But truth be told, I've had a book or two restored, and the process can be fascinating.

I saw the rest of his videos (4 in total), and they're brilliant. He has just the perfect degree of sincerity. Also, he does this thing where he shows special consideration for the book in some small way ("carefully lay the book flat") that creates wonderful contrast to the moment that he decides to utterly wreck it.

[Knygathin]

I was fooled and horrified at first. Brilliant humorist.

He is also an excellent music performer.

Beautiful Song by ROY HARPER - Flycatcher (cover version) - YouTube