The pages in one of my books are in danger of falling out. They’re all still bound together, but the spine of the book has come unglued. The thick pieces of paper glued to the cover and the pages are the only things holding this together.
Can I fix this at home? I can’t afford to buy a replacement copy or to have it repaired, but it’s one of my favorite books. Would I just need to get some glue and fix the spine back or is it more complicated than that?
jessica
Are the pages still stuck to each other? Can you look between the pages and see thread? If so, you have a smythesewn binding, and you’re in little danger of losing the pages. This was common manufacturing technique for casebound (hard cover) books until recently. Nowadays, they’re putting perfectbound (paperback) book blocks into hard covers.
If this is at all a valuable book, look for a book restorer. Otherwise, the suggestions given sound fine.
The pages are all still stuck together. I’m not in much danger of losing individual pages, but I’d like to have the cover attached to the bundle of pages.
It’s a recently published book (4th Harry Potter book to be exact…I suspect the binding job might’ve been rushed because other friends’ copies are deteriorating as well) and it looks all of the pages are glued together. I don’t have the book right on hand, otherwise I’d try to give a better description.
But thanks for the suggestions. We have a hot glue gun somewhere, so I might try that.
jessica