Saw a 19th century ledger at the state archive with a weird binding choice

I was looking at a merchant's ledger from 1883 at the Kansas State Historical Society, and the spine was sewn with what looked like waxed linen, but the boards were attached with modern PVA. It felt like a weird mix of old and new methods. Has anyone seen a historical repair like this, and is it considered a bad practice?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_rodriguez875d ago

Sounds like a well-meaning but sloppy repair job to me lol.

amy_robinson5d ago

What kind of half-fixed thing are we talking about here? My old landlord tried to patch a hole in the wall with what looked like toothpaste and a prayer. It fell out in a week.