{"id":912,"date":"2020-03-10T09:28:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T14:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/?p=912"},"modified":"2020-03-10T09:28:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T14:28:29","slug":"sewing-a-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/2020\/03\/10\/sewing-a-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Sewing a Book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When visitors at TSLAC\u2019s Summerlee Conservation Lab learn about conservation treatment, they often ask questions about sewing books.\u00a0 Does sewing really hold a book together?\u00a0 (Yes!)\u00a0 Do you actually sew books by hand?\u00a0 (Yes!)\u00a0 The following is a quick introduction to sewing a book in a conservation treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many of the 19th-<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup>-century books at TSLAC, sewing is the primary way the pages are bound.\u00a0 When the book was originally made, large paper sheets were folded and trimmed into pages.\u00a0 The pages usually nest together in bundles, which bookbinders call sections.\u00a0 The bookbinder used a needle and thread to sew through the folds in the sections, securing all the pages together in the right order.\u00a0 After sewing, linings of paper, textile, or leather were adhered over the sewing to further strengthen the book\u2019s spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sewing is fundamental to a book, so today\u2019s conservators leave it in place whenever possible.\u00a0 But sometimes, a book is so damaged that it must be re-sewn.\u00a0 When this happens, the first step is to remove the original sewing to separate the leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Removing
Removing sewing thread from a book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s likely that some of the paper folds are damaged, so the conservator mends them with thin, flexible Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Japanese
Japanese tissue was adhered outside every fold to prepare this book for sewing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then, the conservator follows the original sewing pattern to re-sew the volume.\u00a0 In the 19th<\/sup> century, binders began taking shortcuts to reduce time and materials in their work.\u00a0 Today\u2019s conservator will follow those original shortcuts, often sewing two or three sections at a time.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sewing
Sewing a book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conservators use thread and other components that have a similar weight and thickness as the original sewing.\u00a0 This helps the repaired volume to flex and move as intended.\u00a0 It also helps the repaired volume to fit back into its original cover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lining, spine shaping, and covering, this book is ready to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"After
After treatment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

P.S. \u2013 It\u2019s been a wonderful 10 years writing this blog.\u00a0 As I transition to a new position at the University of Texas School of Information, I look forward to reading new posts here in the future.\u00a0 Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When visitors at TSLAC\u2019s Summerlee Conservation Lab learn about conservation treatment, they often ask questions about sewing books.\u00a0 Does sewing really hold a book together?\u00a0 (Yes!)\u00a0 Do you actually sew books by hand?\u00a0 (Yes!)\u00a0 The following is a quick introduction … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14,20,74],"class_list":["post-912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation-2","tag-book","tag-conservation","tag-sewing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":919,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions\/919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}