The subject is my now-hardbound copy of Rhino Review. There's a fold out map at the back which has suffered some wear and tear over the years, particularly where it's a double fold. It strikes me that it could be removed and rehung in landscape so it would only need a single fold. Pros: Single fold to open. Could be hinged to covers instead of a page reducing stress on the book. Also sandwiches map between buffered endpapers. Cons: The single fold is a new one. Map margins need to be trimmed so it fits. Doesn't preserve original format of the book. Might cause more damage than I prevent! Any opinions? (I've left out the 'give it to me, I'll look after it' option.)
Some way to go yet! I'm looking at a very tatty tome which, despite all its flaws, has intact map endpapers. And they have already parted company with the textblock - a handy plus. It would be straightforward to recase it but not sure I could release and reuse the endpapers.
If damage is irksome, remove map, scan and clean the image digitally, re-print on more durable paper, bind back into the book using improved facing.
How rare is this book / map? I would leave the book alone. Some would say that you should play with the map? How about scanning it in a few parts & stitching them together?
Start. Finger smudge. Worse finger smudge. Even worse after cleaning attempt. Glue on actual text. Repeat. Have a little cry. Repeat. Smash something up, possibly the book. Deny everything. That's what I'd do. Re-binding is standard practice. This seems a bit like tinkering for tinkering's sake. There's nothing on that double map fold, & it looks like it's got many more folds left in it. Won't you just add a new crease right across the bulk of the text? General map anyway? More about 'We were here' and showing insignia, which are currently the right way up. Maybe find some other book to play with.
That's actually in much better condition than some of the drawings I've been scanning that are 1940's dated. Similar situation, they appear in softback pamphlets; are A3 or larger in size; and have several pre-existing crease marks that are now tearing along the crease. Adding new creases does not get rid of the old ones and only stores up more problems for the future. My advice is to scan it on an A3 flatbed scanner and then clean it up in Photoshop. once you've done that, scan the rest of the book too and use the scan for consultation whilst leaving the old copy on the bookshelf.
Blu-tack? What's wrong with sellotape? Well, that was pretty decisive. And I suppose it would have to be considered a binding decision... There is still scope to tinker, though, as the horizontal fold is torn where the map's been pasted in. I will have to unstick a bit of the hinge so I can repair that. Thank you for the well-reasoned opinions.