Paper Repairs with Japanese Tissue

Once the paper has been undergone aqueous  treatment, and has been strengthened, we need to take care of paper repairs before we can sew them back together.

 Let us look at the folios that make up a section. On the top right of this picture, we see that the folio has completely come apart. This is the outermost folio of a section, and is typically subject to the maximum abrasion. The next folio (bottom right) has also started to tear at the fold, and requires repair. Whereas, relatively, the two folios on the left side of the picture have not split at the fold, for they have been protected by the outer folios. In some cases, the paper between the stitching have weakened on the innermost folio as well. Each of these need to be repaired before the folios can be pressed and made ready for sewing.

 We make paper repairs with Japanese tissue, which is a thin, strong paper made from vegetable fibers. It has a high structural strength, archival properties and also has good wet strength as well. It is available in a range of gsm and come in various color shades. Selecting the right shade and tone of the paper to match the paper being repaired, will allow the tissue paper to blend into the paper and not show off a contrast.

We need to prepare strips of Japanese tissue paper for repairing the folded parts of the folios. We make use of a water pen to tear off thin strips of the tissue paper with frayed edges. Tissue paper cut with a scalpel show off a sharp contrast on the folios, whereas frayed edges make the tissue blend in. A water pen is like a regular pen, filled with water allowing water to flow out in minuscule quantities through a hair brush. Use a scale to prepare narrow strips of tissue paper - Ready as many strips of tissue paper as required. Once the tissue paper is wet with the water brush, just tear it apart with your hand so that the edges are frayed.

Use paste with Japanese tissue paper. As the tissue paper is very thin, lay them on a piece of transparent plastic sheet and paste them out. The same may be picked with with a tweezer and pasted on the folios. Should the folio have completely split apart, you may paste two strips of Japanese tissue, one on each side of the paper.

With so many folios to repair, it is more efficient to prepare a factory-like-setup. Cut several thin strips of Japanese tissue, bondina (30 - 70 gsm) and also thin strips of blotting paper. The sequence of layering the repaired folios is as follows:

• Blotting paper

•  Strip of Bondina

•  Folio, repaired with Japanese tissue paper

• Bondina

• Blotting paper

• Strip of bondina…and so on

 These layers allow the paste applied to the tissue paper to percolate through the bondina and get absorbed in the blotting paper. Once dry, the layer of bondina peels off the folios with paste, without sticking to it.

Where the folios have completely come apart at the fold, you may consider reinforcing the joint with Japanese tissue on both sides of the fold. This will thicken the folios at the spine, and will cause other problems later on (increasing the swell on the spine), but we will deal with that at a later stage.

It is important that there is a close color match between the color of the folios and the color of the Japanese paper, so that the repairs do not show. 

Clip off the extra length of the Japanese tissue paper at the head and tail of the folios.











Any tear in the paper may also be fixed with Japanese tissue as shown. Where edges are frayed and are breaking apart, the Japanese tissue may be used to strengthen the entire edge.



Once the folios are dry, separate the folios from the Bondina and blotting paper, and fold them back, and assemble the sections. Take extra care to ensure that all the page numbers are intact and in the right place.  









NOTE:

Rough guideline for thickness of Japanese tissue to be used: For paper tears though the text, use 5 gsm, so that it does not obscure the text. Paper tears on the edges may be repaired with 10 gsm or the like. Tears in the fold, which require additional strengthening may be repaired with tissue which are 18 gsm, 23 gsm, etc. 

Disassembling a Book

We have completed making the assessment, and will now begin the process of restoration. The first step in restoration is to disassemble the book (take it apart) to the extent required.

Steps to Restoration

In the example that we have seen, the work required to restore the book is quite extensive. We will require to:

• Disassemble the book, into its component parts: i.e. Separate the book block, cut the sewing, remove each section and separate the folios
• Start with restoration of the Folios
• Remove acidity from the paper, to the extent possible
• Strengthen the paper
• Mend any paper tears
• Flatten the folios and assemble into sections
• Sew the book back together again
• Press the book block, and reduce the size of the swell
• Mend the case, and prepare for binding
• Bind the book.
• Finishing the repairs

That's quite a lot of work! For someone like me who has no experience in book conservation whatsoever, I am feeling like 'Alice in Wonderland' right now.

Pause Before you Begin

One important question that we need to ask ourselves is this: Is it really worth the effort?

I mean, conservation is usually undertaken on valuable works, and typically, the basic quality of paper, binding, etc. is far better. Paper and books very much retain their look and feel even after 150 - 200 years. And this book that we have taken, is obviously a poor product for restoration.

If I were a professional, I would have to agree. But I am learning; And I know that this is the kind of book that we will deal with, in our organization, more often than not. What better example, then, to learn book restoration, than on this perfect specimen?

Let us see where the rabbit hole takes us...

Remove the Tapes


We begin the restoration process by removing the tapes. Since the glue on the tapes are very poor, it peels off very easily.

The difference between archival tapes and regular tapes is this: In archival tapes, the quality of the glue is such that it retains its stickiness even after a long time. In books that are hundreds of years old, it is possible to reactivate the glue just by moistening the spine!

In the case of poor tapes, hot glue, etc. the glue loses its stickiness very quickly. And in the case of hot glue, it starts to break apart as well.

NOTE: Most machine binding use hot glue!


Clean the Spine

Having taken the book block apart, we proceed to clean the spine.

We mount the book block on a finishing press, just to hold it in position, so that we can work on the book. Given that hot glue has been used, we clean the book mechanically. A blunt knife can be used to lift up scraps of paper and brittle hot glue sticking onto the spine.

If required, apply a thin layer of paste (just enough to moisten the spine), and use a blunt knife to remove unnecessary material and to clean the spine.

Looking much better now! A little more work should do it...

Before we take the book apart :Remember to

• Number unnumbered pages
• Make note where the photographs go back

Without this step, we can of course take the book apart, but will have trouble putting the book back together again!


We use a hook blade (on a scalpel) to cut the sewing threads, and to separate each section. Remove the remnants of the thread from each section.

That is the entire book, after it has been disassembled...
- End papers have come apart
-  16 sections
- 15 sections of 16 pages / 4 folios each, and the last section has only 8 pages / two folios.




Book Binding Tip: If it is necessary to have one section with a lesser number of pages / folios, it is better that it is the penultimate section, rather than the last one. The first and the last section are typically under the most stress, and it is best that these sections are thick and strong!




Starting to look neat, is it not?!?

Now, we are in a position to begin the process of paper restoration...

Read about paper restoration by clicking here