Title: Mikra Torah Nevi’im u-Ketuvi…
Author: N/A
Published/Created: Stuttgart: Druck und Verlag von Eduard Hallberger, [1874]
Owner: Special Collections, Rare Books, University of Chicago
Dimensions: H 43.0cm x W 33.3cm x D 8.8cm (22.0lb)
This Hebrew Bible is an in-boards binding with a leather spine and cloth-covered boards. The front cover and spine are elaborately decorated with pressed and raised designs, including a gold title. The back cover has the same raised design but lacks gold decoration. Both the leather and cloth coverings are dark brown with a similar pebbly surface texture, creating a consistent appearance throughout. The case has a hollow back with an almost tight joint. While large, heavy Bibles like this are common in collections, this volume features a unique case structure. The case is constructed in a split-board style, with the boards made of three layers, and the five cord slips laced through the innermost binder’s board (see diagram in “DURING TREATMENT” photos for details).
The textblock is rounded and mildly backed, with the spine lined in blue textile and craft paper. It has machine-made red and white stuck-on endbands situated between the two linings. The textblock edges are ploughed and gilt. The textblock is sewn 2-on over five recessed cords with two kettle stations, and the text is printed on machine-made, calendared paper in black ink. The endsheets are made endpapers of white moiré paper lined with text paper. The pastedown and flyleaf are separate sheets joined with a brown cloth hinge, which is inserted between the flyleaf’s layers and extends under the pastedown onto the board.
The front board is partially detached at both the outer joint and the inner hinge. The back board is nearly fully detached, with the leather spine only attached at the head tip. While the back textile hinge remains attached, the textblock is split between the second and third sections from the back. The first section’s outer two folios were reinforced with a white textile hinge during a prior repair, and the front brown textile hinge shows stitches unrelated to the original sewing. Apart from the first and last few sections, the sewing remains intact. The leather spine and cloth-covered boards are heavily abraded and worn, with severe wear along the edges exposing the delaminating board layers. The spine linings are present but deformed and delaminating.
The main challenge of this treatment was the book’s substantial weight (22 lb). The repair required materials strong enough to support the heavy boards and textblock. Airplane cotton was chosen for the reback due to its strength and thinness, while Lascaux 498 HV was used to attach the textblock to the case to ensure strong adhesion between the textile and paper spine linings.
The textblock was first separated from the case to allow resewing of the split sections and independent repair of the case. The last few sections were spot-sewn using 18/3 linen thread, and the loose original spine linings were reattached with wheat starch paste (WSP). The spine was lined with airplane cotton, which included flanges, and a tube made of Twinrocker cotton rag handmade paper was added. The leather spine of the case was repaired by lining it with toned Japanese paper (Kikuchi) and WSP.
After treating the textblock and case, they were reassembled using Lascaux 498 HV. Loose textile covering on the boards was reattached using Lascaux and PVA to avoid moisture discoloration caused by paste. However, some darkening occurred even with the Lascaux. The delaminating boards were consolidated with WSP.
This treatment was carried out in consultation with Ann Lindsey.
