Pan Pipes: A Book of Old Songs (2nd edition) is a music book from 1904. It is richly 
decorated by Walter Crane and printed by Edmund Evans, whose works I have
long studied and admired. Illustrated music holds a special intrigue to me as well.
When I was able to acquire a copy for myself, I found it too fragile to use in its
current state, therefore began devising an undertaking to repair the book based
on what I’ve learned about book conservation so far.

Condition Assessment

The cover is dusty and scratched, the edges of the hardcover are badly worn;
the endpapers have become especially brittle, with some tears; the pages have
yellowed a little and show foxing, but the printed contents are in good condition;
the old adhesives have lost their effect, the signatures are starting to detach from
one another. My main goal is to stabilise the book structurally.

Cover Cleaning & Inpainting

Rubbed grated vinyl eraser with palm to clean the cover, lifting a layer of tainting.
Mixed acrylic paint to match the colours and did inpainting over scarred areas.

Unbound & Spine Replacement

Separated hardcover from text block, removed old materials around the spine.
Replaced the spine with a new one and re-attached front and back covers with
book cloth. Removed old threads and detached the pages.

Tear Repair & Strengthening

Repaired tears in paper with Japanese tissues, using wheat starch paste as adhesive.
Supported weakened areas such as folds with a layer of tissue. Tinted the tissue to
match the colour of the paper.

Sewing

Re-sewed the signatures together with linen thread, using the kettle-stitch. Added
head and tail bands for support and decoration.

Recasing & Finishing

Attached bookcloth to the spine of text block and inserted it between cover and
endpaper, gluing the book back into a whole. Padded bookcloth around the edge
of hardcover boards to stop further fraying.

Before and After