Quote:
Originally Posted by emeritus
Probably worth making sure it is actually leather.
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Yes, around the time of the Harmsworth encyclopedia there were some quite convincing imitations in use - there still are now, though today's would mostly be plastic-based, or the halfway house of "bonded leather" which has ground-up actual leather among its ingredients. Identifying actual leather is made easier with a book that's a little damaged, so there are places where the surface is either abraded or peeling slightly - fraying cloth presents a quite different appearance. Book leathers are various, I've used the Renapur balsam on bindings from the early 1700s to the 1950s, both smooth (typically calfskin) and grained (often goat): just about anything other than suede.