This is my next book repair project. It is a Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking. This edition is from 1954, the 17th printing of the book. It does not have any monetary value, but has sentimental value to the owner.
The introduction and creed addressed to the female homemaker are fun to read. I can’t imagine serving or eating some of the interesting recipes in here. So many of them seem ridiculously unhealthy and unappetizing today. How often could a person serve a dish with gelatin in it? You would be surprised.
I won’t be able to salvage the boards or the spine because of the damage caused by the exorbitant use of tape to hold it together, and there is also a lovely circle burner mark on the back cover. The back endsheets may also be lost and the back index pages will be a challenge.
The good news is that the text block does not need to be resewn. Once the spine is cleaned and rebacked, that should be enough to support the text block inside a nice new cloth cover.
Of Paper and Ink 