Apologies if this is the wrong subreddit for this question. If anyone has advice of where else to post it, I appreciate it.
An old book was given to me down the family line (pics). It’s an Active Service Pocket Book, Fifth Edition, Enlarged, by Bertrand Stewart. The best I can find online dates the book around 1915.
I’ve had the book for a decade now. A few random friends have asked to read or borrow it. It’s super old but the binding is not in the worst shape. The pages feel very delicate like an old bible.
Obviously I’m skeptical of lending it out, let alone even reading it myself, for fear of damaging it. What’s my best course of action here? Is there a way to have it nicely and safely digitized so I can share it with anyone interested in reading it? It’s 950+ pages also, which feels like an insane number of pages to scan on my little all in one printer.
There is a previous answer by /u/bloodswan that discusses ways to digitize old books: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/baxurj/how_do_i_digitize_an_old_book/ The answer specifically warns not to use a flatbed scanner on books as it can cause damage.
Personally for digitizing books, I hold the pages straight and use the camera on my phone to snap a picture of the page—basically what is recommended in that answer. It works pretty well depending on the lighting. I recently digitized a book that was about 450 pages using this method, it took me 10 seconds per page (just over an hour overall).
Another option you might have is donating a book to a library/nonprofit that would scan it, which is also discussed in that answer.
I checked and there doesn't seem to be a digitized version of this book available on the Internet, and it definitely seems historically valuable!
Edit: if the author was this Bertrand Stewart (I would guess so) then the book is definitely in the public domain, he died in September 1914. So if you do scan it, please post online! Wikimedia Commons will gladly accept public domain scans.