tear seal removal

[HRCostigan]

Hi all -- I have a book that I believe has a tear seal, and am coming to the board restoration experts with a flurry of questions. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Some background -- GA book, let's say around 7.0, unrestored market value around $300. This is about a half inch to 3/4 inch in length on an interior page, not the cover.

 

Scan of front:

Scan of rear:

Photo of front under certain light (apologies for the cheap camera and amateur photography skills):

Another photo of front under certain light, different camera setting:

 

1) Is this a tear seal?

2) Given the background above, about how much would this reduce the market value?

3) Is it possible to remove by an amateur (other than tearing out a chunk of the page)? If so, how?

4) Is it possible to remove by a professional such that the book is left with just a tear and no sign of previous work?

5) Given the background above, about how much would the grade reduce from 7.0 if this was returned to it's natural tear state, I suppose with or without a piece missing?

6) Any recommendations on specific professionals to remove this tear seal? I'd welcome PMs with cost, description of the process, options, etc.

[faster friends]

Send it to Matt Nelson of Classics incorporated. Assuming there is no other resto, I do not think it will change the grade from 7.0

[buttock]

Doesn't look like a tear seal. Rub your fingers on it, can you feel dried glue or any residue?

[HRCostigan]

Doesn't look like a tear seal. Rub your fingers on it, can you feel dried glue or any residue?

 

What led me to believe it was a tear seal was due to a post from Povertyrow in the How to spot restoration thread.

 

A tear seal. There are four main techniques used.

 

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The third is using Japan Paper and methyl-cellulose or wheat/rice paste. The pastes are basically water soluble fine powders that, when mixed with water, act almost like wallpaper paste. Methyl cellulose is almost "powdered paper" that is also water soluble. Thi8s is applied much like the archival tape. But the Japan paper can be a LOT finer (thinner) than the tape. It can be a bit hard to detect but look for a slightly dull "sheen" that reflects light differently than the rest of the surface.

 

The fourth is "heat seal" paper. This is very fine Japan paper that is coated on one side with a heat-meltable adhesive (always neutral ph). A "heat iron" - basically a plastic handle that stays cool with a few inches of very smooth metal rod (tapering almost to a point) that gets hot when you plug it in. You can place the heat-seal paper on the tear and gently glide the heat iron over it to seal it. Again, depending on the quality, it can be hard to detect but look for that slightly dull "sheen" that reflects light differently than the rest of the surface.

 

Light is reflected differently, shiny (maybe the same as the "dull sheen" described above?) as you can see from the angle in the photos, has kind of a film-like quality to the eye and the touch. I believe regular paper shouldn't reflect light like that.

[HRCostigan]

Alright, I received some wisdom via PM and it looks like this is just a result of cheap paper, and is not in fact restoration. The reflection just threw me for a loop.

 

Thanks for looking all!