Book dust in my nose!

Today, I disbound a bunch of Connecticut Public Records from the 1890's.



As you can see, these books are in really poor condition. The leather is moldering, in most cases the front and back covers are detached, pages are falling out, the works. Some time in the last, oh, 100 years, the leather on the spine decided to become one with the paper and glue beneath it, making it a challenge (and in most cases, an impossibility) to remove the spine in one piece.



Yeah. Fun.

Apparently they originally belonged to the Hartford Public Library, judging by the bookplates. My favorite bookplate is the one from the Lending Department:



I especially like the bit about reporting all cases of contagious disease in the house where you live.


And now to go sneeze reddish brown goop for the rest of the day!