Paperback Repair

This is a really basic treatment for perfect bound paperback books. With this particular book, the text block had delaminated and split into different sections, as well as separating from the covers.

The first step was to reattach the text block. I lined the pages up at the foredge, and trimmed approximately one millimeter off the spine with a guillotine. Next I added a scrap piece of paper to the top and bottom of the text block for protection, lined the pages up at the spine, rebound the text block as a perfect binding with PVA, and dried under weight. Then I removed the scrap pieces of paper and reattached the text block to the case using PVA on the spine. I dried the book closed, under weight.
Because of the previous trim on the spine, the text block was just a little too short for the case. To correct this I simply took the book back to the guillotine and trimmed all three edges to fit. For this final trim, I kept the book between thin boards, so that the guillotine would not mark the cover.
This is the completed repair (Winter 2009).