| Recasing: when the text-block of a book has separated from the cover. This problem is often seen on very large or heavy books bound by machine as well as 19th century books with a cloth or paper binding. |
 |
|
Reconstructing a book cover. You have the cover boards and spine and either parts of or all of the cover has separated from the text-block. |
 |
| Reattaching covers: my preferred method of reattaching the covers on small leather books uses Japanese tissue. |  |
| Rebacking a book or replacing a spine: In the example at right, the covers are held onto the book by the black cloth tape. To repair this book the black tape is removed from the covers and spine. Then the old leather spine would be removed. The binding would be reconstructed with the original cover boards and a new spine. The old spine would be reattached onto of the new spine. The new spine would only be seen along the edges where the front and back boards meet the new spine and at the head and tail of the spine where the old spine was damaged by the black tape. |  |
|
Rebinding by adding a new spine or replacing a missing front or back board. Sometimes a part of the cover, such as the spine has been lost. It's possible to replace the missing part in a style similar to the original. The example at right is missing a spine and also needs to be resewn. |  |
|
New binding in a period or modern style. When only the text-block has survived, it could be housed in a protective box or it could be given a new binding to allow it to be used. |  |