Title: Plum Bun
Author: Jessie Redmon Fauset
Published/Created: London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot Limited, 1928
Owner: Morgan Library & Museum, Printed Books and Bindings
Dimensions: H 13.6cm x W 19.0cm x D 3.6cm
Dimensions of the dust jacket: H 18.7cm x W 29.8cm (flaps folded) / 45.4cm (flaps unfolded)
The dust jacket is made of machine-made orange paper with a smooth surface texture, and the grain direction runs horizontally.
The dust jacket is extremely brittle, with small pieces chipped off from the edges. Tears and losses are concentrated along the edges, particularly on the tail edge and folds. Its current condition makes it unsafe to wrap around the book. The paper has faded to a yellow-brown color, especially on the spine and front cover.
The dust jacket was surface-cleaned, with temporary mends applied to fragile areas. Solubility tests confirmed the media were insoluble in water and ethanol. It was washed twice in a pH-adjusted DI water bath. After realigning the detached flap, the dust jacket was lined with toned Usu-Mino Thin using acrylics and thinned wheat starch paste, then the jacket was dried in a hard/soft pack. Cracks were humidified and reformed around a book-shaped block. The dust jacket was wrapped around the book and encased in Mylar.
This treatment was carried out in consultation with Reba F. Snyder.
