LEC - Way of All Flesh - What should I do to the leather?

I know not to put these in mylar but what should I do to the leather to maintain these as best as possible? The books haven't arrived yet but I want to give them the maintenance they need right away once they get here. I'd like to get whatever I need ordered now.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OcEnIUKj7dt79Kc6ndhpG09ylLc-jZ3c/view?usp=shari....

I read an article that suggested cleaning with Absorene first. I have one of those perforated bags with crumbled gum eraser inside so do I need to buy this?
https://www.talasonline.com/Absorene-Book-and-Paper-Cleaner

Then, treating with Talas Restoration Leather Conditioner:
https://www.talasonline.com/Restoration-Leather-Conditioner?quantity=1&size=....

Will this regimen be sufficient? Any tips beyond this? I know to make sure the end papers don't come in contact with the conditioner.

>1 RickFlair: Absorene is not meant for use on leather. I use it for paper & cloth only. I am unfamiliar with the TALAS leather conditioner, but based on the comments/reviews, I would be comfortable with using it. I myself use my own mixture of anhydrous lanolin and neatsfoot oil. It works well.

A note of caution, however. If the leather on these books is dry and crumbling, be very careful! Dry rot does not respond well to most leather treatments, but this TALAS stuff may be the exception. I just don't know. The specs for it do not reveal what it is made of (proprietary trade secret), but it is recommended that you use it in a well-ventilated area and wear gloves. Probably a bit nannyish, as it contains no hazardous materials, although it is flammable.

Thank you for the reply. The only other response I received was a user telling me to not use any leather treatments. I was told to just leave it as is. So, I'm looking for as much feedback as possible because I truly don't know what to do with it. One user here has a fine condition of this release but I have to believe that is very rare. I want to do whatever I can to preserve mine.

>1 RickFlair:

I would just handle the binding periodically, get your human oils in there. From my own experience leather treatments make things worse.

And those areas at the top of the spine where the black color has been rubbed away, should I do anything special there?

>5 RickFlair: Avoid handling those areas as much as possible. BTW, >4 MobyRichard:'s advice regarding handling the book is correct. Leather treatments are not normally necessary as regular handling does impart oils to the leather--just be sure your hands are clean so as to not transfer dirt, etc. to your books. Opinion is divided on whether leather treatments are a Good Thing or not. I tend towards saying they can be, but must be used sparingly and only when absolutely needed. I have successfully treated several leather-bound books with excellent results, but they have been books published before 1900. LECs should not require any treatment, to be honest. Should have said that in my previous comment. Apologies.

Understood. I wonder why this LEC release is so hard to come by in fine condition. I would assume most owners of LECs store and handle their books with care. I haven't had any problem finding fine condition in any of the other releases so far. Users here say that the Moby Dick release is also very hard or impossible to find in fine condition.

>7 RickFlair: LEC sheepskin bindings are notorious for not aging well. Moby Dick was published during WWII and MACY had a hard time keeping subscribers. As a result there were probably only around 1000 copies of Moby Dick printed. During the war, the US Navy requisitioned all of the color fast blue dye for uniforms so the exposed spine quickly faded.

>1 RickFlair: Finally found were the book is shelved. The condition of my copy looks very similar to yours. I've not put anything on to the binding and it looks the same as when I bought it more than six years ago. I do shelve most of my LECs with the exposed spine facing inward on the shelf to limit exposure.

I couple of years ago a copy of Moby Dick popped up on eBay in the best condition that I have seen. It was around $800. I did not get it but saved a picture :)

>10 BuzzBuzzard: Holy cow! I've never seen a copy that looks good.

>10 BuzzBuzzard:

This would be incredible to find in this condition. I would have pid $800!

>12 Django6924: You are probably right but $800 was and still is more than I would shell for a book. Anyhow, at the end I ended up with Don's Moby Dick that is quite special.

WOW! That Moby Dick with the marbling is incredible! Who is Don?

>10 BuzzBuzzard: Wish you could have bought this and even more so wish I could have. Don’s is fantastic too.

I think this was Don's supreme achievement in rebinding design. All of his rebinds were superb but this one is award-worthy.

>14 RickFlair:
Don Floyd, otherwise known as leccol, was a member of this group who was a longtime collector, and who delighted in, as he said, "saving an abused LEC from the dustbin." He would often find editions with torn or deteriorated bindings, usually for not much money, and design a new binding to his own taste and have the book rebound by the best commercial binders to his specifications--usually at a price equal to or greater than the cost of a pristine copy of the same book, if one could be found. I would bet anything this Moby-Dick rebind cost him a lot more than $800! He was very knowledgeable, and though he and I often differed on our opinions about certain volumes, I think we both respected each others point of view.

He passed away a few years ago and his estate was auctioned off by his heirs, from whom he was apparently estranged. He is much missed.

>14 RickFlair:
>16 Django6924:
As a new member of these forums, my exposure to Don has been after the fact, but if you dive in here a bit you will certainly see his user name: leccol

I thought it was French, at first, then realized it stood for LEC Collector

>17 BionicJim: Don Floyd had at least four nicks on LT: LECCOLLECT, defloyd, donfloyd and leccol. During 2011 all four were used.

I don't understand the comment about knowing not to put leather-bound books in mylar (post 1). I've never had any issues with doing that. Please explain. Am I missing something?

>10 BuzzBuzzard:

Dang, almost suspiciously good....:p.

I got a beat up copy for cheap and rebound.

>19 Steve92084:

It just takes away from the pleasure of handling the book. Also, part of preserving the leather is getting your human oils in there.

>21 MobyRichard: >19 Steve92084: I have some LECs that my human oils don't sit well with the binding material. Batouala comes to mind immediately. I had a beat up copy and noticed that no matter how clean my hands were I would leave finger marks on the binding. I later found a mint copy and I am not removing the DuraLar cover no matter what. For me the cover does not take away too much of the pleasure of handling the book.

>22 BuzzBuzzard:

Are you referring to leather or other binding materials? I don't think it really applies to anything other than leather. I do have one calfskin binding that I can never read without damaging it, but calfskin is just easy to damage. I believe poor quality sheepskin also does not take handling well, thus the notorious LEC bindings. Goatskin and pigskin and cowhide usually handle really well.

I also think part of the appeal of leather is that it ages in more interesting ways than synthetic materials. If it's good leather it might even look better with age. At least until the red rot sets in.

>23 MobyRichard: Yes. This one is bound in full morocco. One of the nicer full leather early LEC bindings.

Here is a picture:

I've read that the leather should be allowed to breathe so covers could cause decay. I'm not an expert though and it's just what I've read from other people.

If a leather dries out and looses its natural oils, it will absorb just about anything and leave marks; skin oil, dirt, you name it will all mark the leather. This is where leather treatments come in: they are used to replace the natural oils in book leather.

In the short run, putting a Duralar/Mylar/whatever cover on a leather bound book will do no harm, but over the long run, it may cause the pace of leather deterioration to increase. I do not know the long-term effects of these synthetics on leather and I do not know if any studies of possible effects have been made, but I personally would not risk it. Good book leathers are tough enough to withstand normal handling and do not require protection. Low quality sheepskin, calf, buckskin, suede, etc. are easily damaged and must be handled with care. I would suggest making an acid-free paper dust jacket for such volumes over using Duralar or other plasticized product.

It was interesting to hear all the comments for and against using Mylar and similar protecting materials for leather bound books. Just to add one piece of evidence to this discussion: A while ago, I purchased a copy of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Some books were covered in clear plastic wrap (I don't have details on the exact material used), while others weren't. The ones in the wrap were in very decent condition, with only minimal signs of decay at the very top and bottom of the spine. The spine was heavily damaged for the uncovered books (as frequently happens to this set).

I ended up merging two sets to get one of acceptable quality, but at least in this one case for sheepskin leather (if I remember correctly), the plastic protection seems to have helped the condition of the books.

Here is an image showing the difference between a protected and an unprotected book:



Of course, one can't generalize from this one piece of evidence.

>28 teppi2: Wow, what a difference! And they came from the same set?

>29 elladan0891: it certainly came from the same purchase, if the seller hasn’t merged two sets, it should have been the same set. I did show the best and worst book, but the difference in condition between books with and without cover was very clear.

>22 BuzzBuzzard: What a clever idea. Can you show us a picture of your merged set? I have never seen an acceptable copy of this set.

>31 kdweber: I am afraid my merged set will not be an exception. With acceptable I just meant the absolute minimum I was willing to tolerate for this set, and I think I can tolerate more defects than many here on the board. Also, it is clearly visible that the books are from two different sets - the texture of the leather seems to vary quite a bit between them. I probably should at least cover the remaining three with a similar wrapping.



There are certainly better sets on the market right now, but those are in the $1k - $2k range, and both of my sets combined cost $100.

Even the better ones (the books with the plastic wrap) have damage to the spines where they were not covered (the descriptor "minimal wear" in my above post was a bit optimistic now that I look closer):

>32 teppi2:

Hard to say. I also have Decline and Fall and there is a very wide variation in the condition of each volume. Sometimes it comes down to "Volume 5 was too close to the window" or random stuff like that. I've also noticed for multi-volume sets, the first couple of volumes are often the worst while later volumes might have no wear or even unopened pages (when applicable) and appear unread. There's no way to know how well the previous owners took care of each individual volume and when the plastic cover was applied and under which owner the damaged occurred.

Likewise, I have never seen a pristine set of the Roman Empire books, one in similar condition to the $800 Moby-Dick pictured above. Oddly, the first volume of my set is in pretty good condition but the spine is nearly detached from the final volume--though the pages in volume 7 look as though they've never been read. Is it the leather used? The bindery? Some combination of the two? It's a shame as this design with the deteriorating columns is so successful as an allusive binding that any rebind that doesn't attempt to match it, is certainly going to be less than ideal--and to match the design would, I think, be cost-prohibitive. As we see in Don's rebind of the Melville, sometimes a rebind with an entirely different design can be just as attractive. Any different design for the Gibbon would, in my opinion, be a disappointment to anyone who has seen the original.

I have not made up my mind on the dura-lar versus leave-it-alone issue. I did get a copy of The Physiology of Taste which had a deteriorating spine and using the mylar seemed the only way to keep it together and get some idea of what the spine design was. Many of these books only are quarter-bound in leather which makes the issue more complicated since one is as likely to touch the sides as well as the spine. Most of these I have covered with no noticeable negative results.
I have applied Accessible Preservatives leather formula (formerly called Fredelka Formula) to leather bindings and it seems to work well.
This is certainly a subject worth keeping tabs on.