BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE (UPDATED)...

A couple of posts back I showed you another edition of The LITTLE PICTURE HYMN BOOK and the restoration work I performed on a scan of the rather grubby dust-jacket.  However, yesterday (Tuesday), I received the above book (that's the seller's photo), along with a jacket-free second copy (sold as a pair) which was in a pretty bad way.  (I'm currently working on repairing it as best I can, but it'll never be able to play the piano again.) But forget that for the moment because it's the one pictured here that we're going to focus on today.

Although the cover had bits missing, it was cleaner than the one I received on Monday, so I repaired it as much as possible without going overboard on it, and that's the 'after' photo below. However, before repairing it, I scanned it, using digital technology to restore the scan (as much as possible) to a blemish-free condition, then printed a copy for use on my other editions of the book.  I actually prefer it to the previous 'facsimiles' I made, so I'll be discarding them and using the new ones.

That's the new one below, and looking pretty good if I say so myself.  As before, the colours are a bit brighter than the original, but that's a side-effect of increasing the contrast to brighten up the white background and wipe out any minor marks, thus saving me from having to attend to every last crease, dunt, scratch and scuff individually.  I'm currently considering whether or not to cover the new dust-jackets with clear adhesive film in order to better protect them, or just cut down some clear protective library sleeves to slide each of them into.  Not that it matters much, I suppose, as I can print new ones as and when needed, should any of them ever become soiled or damaged with the passage of time.

Anyway, I'm glad all the hard work is finally over, as it's quite fatiguing having to devote the kind of attention required for such a seemingly simple task.  (Trust me, it ain't!)  With the previous replicas I made, I had to touch up the borders of the 'master' printout with an ink marker (then scan it again), making them a little darker in the process, but this time I left them just as they were.  Did I mention how brilliant I am in being able to do such a grand job?  No?  I must be slipping, but I can remedy that oversight right now!  Hey, I'm brilliant!  (If you don't agree, keep it to yourself, okay?  You know how sensitive I am.)  And if you'd like to see the interior pics, jump back a couple of posts.  

Update: Below is the previous book I received, original dust-jacket unretouched. The second photo is after I repaired it as best I could, and though it's not perfect, I'd say it's a tad tidier.  The flash has bounced off the ink on the top and bottom borders and made them look a bit whiter than they are, so I'll maybe dirty them down a bit to closer match the grubbiness of the rest of the cover.  Like I said though, it's tidier-looking than it was.