This volume, Henry Noel Humphreys’ A Record of The Black Prince, 1849, is held in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections of UNCG University Libraries. It is beautifully illustrated and has original molded papier-mâché covers, likely meant to mimic carved ebony. 

The item was in good condition prior to treatment but with weakened hinges due to the heavy weight of the covers and a broken and partially detached spine. The text block is double-fan adhesive bound, meaning there are single sheets of paper adhered together at the spine as opposed to folded sheets sewn together at the spine. The original adhesive was quite brittle and had begun to fail, resulting in the textblock being in two pieces.  

The original spine and linings were removed prior to consolidating and relining the spine. The original spine was remounted and restored using Japanese paper and wheat starch paste followed by a coat of SC6000/Klucel-G mix to consolidate and further protect the leather and Japanese paper as well as to match the sheen of the Japanese paper to the original leather.

Due to the heavy covers, this binding is somewhat weak at the hinges by design. In order to allow patrons to view and enjoy this lovely volume, I decided to construct a protective enclosure with an integral book cradle (design by Jeff Peachey) that allows both hands of the viewer to be free for turning pages. The book can now rest open in its cradle and is restricted from being opened too far to avoid putting too much stress on the spine or hinges. 

Book conservation is often about finding creative solutions to unique problems. In the case of Henry Noel Humphreys’ A Record of The Black Prince, I was able to restore some of the original beauty of the book while also constructing a protective enclosure for storage that includes a clever support to more easily share this distinctive volume with library patrons.