Repairing Modern First Edition Dust Jackets Without Fills or Inpainting: A Conservative Approach

Abstract

This poster presents a minimally invasive method for repairing damaged modern first edition dust jackets. The technique uses lightweight kozo tissue precoated with Klucel G (hydroxypropyl cellulose) adhesive and visually fills losses by placing a toned or printed secondary jacket beneath the original. This approach preserves the dust jacket’s authenticity, while allowing it to appear complete from a short viewing distance during exhibition. Depending on curatorial needs, the jacket’s condition can be either visually improved or its wear emphasized. Developed for a curatorial brief at Harvard’s Houghton Library in early 2023, this reversible strategy was used to reunite and stabilize the dust jacket for E.E. Cummings’s The Enormous Room (1922), enabling its display and subsequent storage with the book. The aim was to create the illusion of completeness without invasive or time-consuming fills, preserving the original material as much as possible. By sharing this method in the Book and Paper Group Annual, I hope to highlight a conservative yet visually satisfying alternative to the widespread use of in-painting and invasive fills in dust jacket restoration.