Unknown Book Cover Material

[Mangrove]

Here are some scans of a manual I found from a library in Finland. The type of a material used on the covers eludes me. The manual was published and binded in 1944. This makes me believe the material is some sort of paper impregnated with resin since not much else was available then. Can someone confirm my suspicion?

 

1) Top part of the front cover.

 

http://s16.postimg.org/cp9nle02t/Cover1.jpg

 

2) Details of the cover. The width of this photograph is around 2.5 cm or 1 in.

 

http://s16.postimg.org/45q9nmrqd/Cover2.jpg

 

3) Inside of the manual.

 

http://s16.postimg.org/5nbpz6wh1/Cover3.jpg

[Cryptos]

Looks like cloth fibre to me.

[Thuja]

To me it looks like bookcloth, a short introduction to bookcloths is here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_276747_en.pdf

 

Depending on the library do they have a conservator who could have a look? Where it's worn do you see paper fibres or textile? Coated/painted papers were used in bookbinding but that looks like cloth and because it was obviously meant for use paper doesn't last.

 

Suomeksi bookclothista puhutaan kluuttina.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Thuja

[Mangrove]

Where it's worn do you see paper fibres or textile? Coated/painted papers were used in bookbinding but that looks like cloth and because it was obviously meant for use paper doesn't last.

 

I have handled dozens, if not hundreds, of binded books from the 1930s and 1940s and this is the only one I have seen with this kind of covers. There's no weave pattern to be seen and the covering is really thin, almost too thin to be fabric. Cotton was not available for bookbinding during the WWII, but if it is fabric, then rayon could have been used.

[Thuja]

I'm actually a book conservator and a binder although my speciality is much older books on a completely different continent as I personally don't find 20th c. interesting binding wise. Sub-standard materials and techniques, no thank you.

 

Anyway, the surface reminds me of book cloths coated with pyroxylin (nitrocellulose), they can be really thin and have that shine. Apparently pyroxylin was used on paper as well which is something I did not know. As I said earlier I would look at the areas where there is a cut in the material (corners, holes) and the worn areas under magnification to see if there is obvious textile material under the coating or paper.