Title: Maria Cheeseman; or, the Candy-Girl
Author: N/A
Published/Created: American Sunday-School Union, [c.1855]
Owner: Winterthur Library
Dimensions: H 15.2cm x W 10.5cm x D 1.8cm
This book is a quarter binding with a black leather spine and marbled paper side coverings. It features an adhered-boards structure, with the textblock sewn two-on over two recessed cord sewing supports. The binding has a tight back and tight joints. The spine is smooth, with gold-stamped horizontal lines and the title.
The book shows significant wear: the leather spine is creased and cracked, and the marbled paper covers exhibit areas of loss. The front cover is fully detached, while the back cover is loosely attached.
This book was rebacked, with the front board reattached using Japanese paper (black Moriki) laminated to handmade Western paper (Ruscombe Mills). The inner hinge of the back cover was also reinforced with thin Japanese paper (Uso Mino Thin). To preserve the brittle leather and gold tooling on the spine, the original tight-back structure was converted into a natural hollow-back structure. This treatment was carried out in consultation with Melissa Tedone.
