Old D-Day book question
 

Very off topic, but nothing ventured nothing gained. The Pelican OT forum knows many things.

I have a paperback book titled "Sainte Mere Eglise - First American Bridgehead in France". It was written shortly after the war by the mayor of the town. My edition is in English and was printed in 1964.

Here's the question - the binding of the book has the top and side pages folded, but not separated. I presume this is a specific type of bookbinding that was done to save cost and left it to the reader to cut the pages apart. Photos below to show what it looks like - I've put corks between some of the pages to better illustrate.

Does anyone know anything about this type of binding?
Since my book has unseparated pages, am I de-valuing the book by cutting the pages apart to read the book? It is in good condition and I'd hate to "damage" it if there is value in leaving it in original condition.

To answer the obvious question, if I left it alone, I'd get another copy so that I could actually read the book.

Thanks much

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What you have is called setup. It's just an in-process sample from the printer that never made it to the cutters and was eventually discarded. Then it somehow attracted someone's attention so they fished it out of a bin before it made it to the landfill.
If you want to read it, just take it to any print shop and they will probably trim it for you for free. It would only take a couple of minutes to do. It won't hurt the value.

I would think if that is a "rare" book, the condition (pre-trimmed) would make it more so. I wouldn't touch it without getting a book-collector/dealer opinion.

Thanks much. Good feedback from both of you. Will need to do some additional homework.

Leave it as-is. Even if not particularly valuable, it is a collectible just by it's rarity. If you want to read it, buy it on Amazon for $20.
Sainte Mere Eglise: First American Bridgehead in France June 6 1944: Alexandre Renaud, Deena Stryker: 9782260004882: Amazon.com: Books