This big, heavy book (over four inches thick!) is a history and biography of the San Joaquin Valley here in California. The client wanted to have it repaired before she donated it to her local historical society. The pages were clean and strong, held together by the original sewing although the first ten or so pages were off the text block. The spine was off the book, and there was tape damage on the cover and on the endpapers. 
Considering the heft of the book, I thought it best to build up the spine lining several layers thick for support and also sew on cloth joints, since the endpapers were already broken at the joints.
