I'm guessing that Sheri and Laura will be most likely to answer, but any help will be greatly appreciated.

I became the owner of a great aunt's American Woman Cookbook. The book is actually in deplorable condition, but, of course, it has immense sentimental value. My first thought was to put a rubber band around the book to keep the pages from falling out. What I actually ended up doing was putting it in a gallon Zip-loc bag.

How can I do the least damage to the book while keeping it together?

Thanks ahead of time for any and all help.

NOOOOOOO!!

No rubber bands, no ziplocks! Rubber bands decay, stains, and leave sticky residue. Ziplocs offgas harmful chemicals that can break down the paper. They also don't allow it to breathe, possibly trapping in moisture = MOLD.

You need to box it in archival quality materials, and keep it away from light and moisture (TOO dry is bad too), and fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

If I still had access to the materials, I'd make you a box. But I've been out or archives work for ages now. You can buy them online though, or go to a rare books shop, and I'm sure they'll make you one for cheap.

You can buy readymade ones here:
To make your own:
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineSho...190000:193000:193400

To get ones readymade:
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineSho...=30000:190000:191000

Take some measurements, and choose one that fits.

Are you going to use the book a lot?

My step father gave me my Arban's (trombone) book. The cover was off and the pages were all falling out. It has no monetary value, but it does have sentimental value... not to mention that both ds and I still play out of it.

I 3-hole-punched it and put it in a 3-ring-binder. This is NOT the way to archive a valuable book... but it worked... especially since I use the book.