Simple re-backs of cloth-bound books with damaged/ torn/missing spines are bread and butter work for most hand binders.
Here are a couple of useful tips.
You have cleaned the old linings off the back of the text block and re-shaped it. Next you are going to glue a strip of cotton fabric over the back, 25mm wider than the back, so as to have hinges to secure the boards firmly.
Hold the pre-lifted flaps of the covers away from the back with a couple of old knitting needles to avoid getting glue on them at this stage.
Glue the back and tap and rub the cotton fabric into the backs of the sections of text with an old nailbrush, finally rubbing up and down. This ensures the fabric is worked right into all the corrugations of the back.
Then you glue a strip of strong Kraft paper over the fabric.
Also rubbed down with the nailbrush. The Kraft paper strip is a couple of mm short at top and bottom – you don’t want to see the top/bottom edge when the book is finished.
The text block is now firm and tight, but opens easily.
The Rebindery 