I used a white polymer eraser on the cover of my War of the Worlds...

And I immediately regret it. It appears I have dulled the red color wherever I used the eraser. I noticed that the crumbs from the eraser were colored red. So, I have obviously stripped color from the cover and I feel very stupid. I noticed that the red book in the set had received some black color from rubbing against the other book in the set. That should have been my first clue not to do anything because obviously the color rubs off on this set. So I was attempting to remove the black streaks from the cover of the red book. I also noticed that the inside of the slipcase has some red and black streaks where the books have rubbed inside. I guess I'm just very surprised that the eraser had such an effect! Maybe I'm overreacting but I'm very mad at myself!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16EL_sD4iU0I1ef-_tbDu5zGMvfQp8zAN/view?usp=shari...

Well, this is called "learning by experience" and it is often not pleasant. It could have been worse, though. As it is, while annoying, the streaking isn't that bad. Sometimes a soft rubber eraser will remove dirt and smudges. As you can see, it is best to test for lack of color fastness first, and I would suggest the rear turn-ins as a discrete place to make your test.

Maybe it's due to my advanced age, but I have decided to live with my book's imperfections and signs of age (as I hope my wife will live with my own) and not try to return them to their pristine condition. For one thing, being obsessed with having my books As New sometimes was intimidating me from reading them, meaning I often bought non-Limited Editions Club books to read while my copies sat on the shelf. "That way madness lies; let me shun that; no more of that.”

>3 Django6924:
King Lear, right? I’m currently reading my copy of the Grabhorn Lear, and noticed a pale smudge on the red cloth of the lower board. I was briefly tempted to try to clean it, but then decided not to go down that path. Books about the depredations of age will have to age as best they may — along with their owners. :-)

>4 kermaier:

Right.

>3 Django6924: I love this philosophy and will adopt it as my own as I’m currently reading a beat-up copy of LEC Anna Karenina 1933. Though the binding is torn and the corners show it has been dropped (at least twice), the pages are in excellent condition with rare minor foxing. A NF copy of this is selling on eBay for 10X what I got this set for, so living with it and acknowledging its age and prior history of providing enjoyment to other accident prone owners is both satisfying and prudent.