I have two 19th century books with partially damaged spines that I would like some advice on.
The first one has a leather binding and a piece of the spine has fallen off. I still have the chip of leather (it may not be easy to see, but I have placed the loose piece next to the empty spot in the photo), and I would like to know whether it's a good idea to simply glue it back in place. It was only the outer part of it that fell off, so it wouldn't be attaching the spine to the pages or anything. If it should be glued back, what is the best type of glue to use for it? Would simple Elmer's glue be best, or would it be better to use superglue?
Also, the leather seems to be very dry on that book and is cracking along the front and back creases of the spine, so it needs to be oiled. I have different types of mink oil for my leather shoes, so would that work on a leather book binding?
The second book is a cloth bound one that has part of the upper spine partially torn. In this case, part of the paper beneath the spine's binding is also damaged. It looks like I could glue it between the paper below that is intact and the cloth at the top of the spine.
I normally wouldn't ask for help on this, but I'd like to be especially careful due to the age of the books.