Pest Control

Who you gonna call when pesky little rodents or insects get to your books? Me! Or, at least, this client did.

This pamphlet had been eaten through on the top right corner, leaving about 26 leaves to be filled so that it could go on living its life with a bit more security.

The client did not want any added color on the covers to blend the fills. We’re not trying to hide anything here, just trying to match it as best we can. I chose two different types of paper, one for the cover and one for the textblock. The textblock had chain and laid lines, and was considerably thinner. The covers were fibrous, more evidently wove, and much darker.

Some of the new fill pieces were too dark and stained with the time period-appropriate paper that I used, so they had to go into a lightening bath to better match the original material. Additionally, each and every one of the new fills had to be cut to fit the existing damaged edge, pasted in such a way that the chain and laid lines lined up when shown with a backlight, squared off in an organic looking way, and then sanded down to match the approximate thickness of the pamphlet’s paper.

It takes quite a bit of time! But ultimately, the result is so rewarding.