We provide book restoration services for bibles anywhere from 2 months to 400 years old. R epair of leather bindings, cloth bindings, albums, and other items. Ace bookbinding home page of product information and services. Our staff of skilled craftsman have many years of experience in bible repair and have developed numerous techniques unique to the bible rebinding industry. For more information become a member of save your books. Restoration leather conditioner contains a high grade solvent with no sulfur content, making this product ideal for treating leather books.
Book repair for bookthinkers preserving and restoring. Better yet, save all your glass cleaner for your windows, and the pleasure of reading by natural light. Ive heard from readers whove gotten good results using a variety of leather products sometimes to preserve the cover, sometimes to improve it. You get the strength of a new cover, but the look of what you remember your treasured book to be. Repeat the process for the inside of the back cover. How to repair a leather bound book home guides sf gate. For over twenty years the book doctor has provided custom bookbinding, book restoration, and book and bible repair services to customers nationwide. Since the mid to late 19th century, leather book covers have gradually. The condition of your bible will dictate the amount of bible repair required to restore it back to a condition that will give you many years of service. Perform triage on the leather book you want to restore. We want to help you and the organizations you are part of to tell stories through digitization. To do that, the cleveland digital public library clevdpl offers individuals.
Recasing just putting the book back into the original cover, and tightening up a loose text block. But it does discuss the general principals involved. I was able to use the original pressed paper forerunner to cardboard covers, but had to soak off the old end papers. Antiquerare book restoration leonards book restoration. If the damage is not so severe you may be able to restore the cover on your own. Family bible restoration leonards book restoration. The stories inside books can last forever, but the books themselves can deteriorate. Leather preserver works well as it makes old leather soft and supple. We do restoration work on books worth several thousand dollars, but any responsible. Good idea for moms old cookbook or grandpas old dictionary. The paper strips must be wide enough to cover the damaged area, and its best if both sides of the strip are torn rather than cut.
Full restoration we often work on old gothic bibles, plat maps or other ornate books. The old cover makes a great base to attach the new cover. But if theres already much deterioration on a bonded leather cover, we would probably recommend rebinding with a new cover. We can rebind in a strong new binding, but then peel the old front, back or spine or all three off the old binding and glue that onto the new. Dust, mild stains, and pencil marks are fairly easy to remove. From our stock of old book parts we were able to replace the cover. Restoration without total recovering is nearly impossible, but we have had success in recovering these using genuine leather, saving a portion of the original cover art and embedding it into the new leather. This works as long as the cover is still in one piece, even with bonded leather. Preservation solutions and united kingdombased furniture clinic are excellent places to order leather restoration, refinishing and repair products online. Examples of family bible and other book restoration and. How to clean, repair and protect leather books book collecting guide. Step by step instructions on how to repair a bible cover. After using preservation solutions restoration leather conditioner the leather will dry light and soft and it will not darken.
It is evident how much a book has been loved by how blemished or damaged it is. Bookthink book repair how to reattach detached covers. Quickly and easily restore your beloved bibles, cook books, history books, or childrens books to like new with help from our experts. Aa leather repairs and rebinds bibles in genuine leathers such as cowhide, goatskin, calfskin, and lambskin. The care and feeding of leather bibles bible design blog.
Leather books are made to look good and to last for generations, which is why most family bibles are often leather bound. Unlike other book restoration services, we can usually repair your book within 15 days. Aa leather shoppe offers monogrammed madetoorder leather wallets, leather bracelets, and leather folders. It is important to repair a damaged paperback book as soon as possible, before the cover. This white house cook book was missing its cover as well as a good number of pages in both the front and back. Whether youre an avid writer and only use beautifully bound leather journals, or collect rare leather bound books, proper care of your beautiful tomes is important to ensure a. We do our best to stay within the limits of the particular binding period when creating a new cover. Wipe a paper or mattefinished cover with a soft cloth or a dry cleaning pad available at art supply stores. The pages are brought back together and the cover reassembled and refinished where necessary while keeping as much of the original book s structure in place. Send pictures, or you may want to send the book itself. In the world of books, is there anything as sumptuous as a leather binding.
The most common dirty book problems are related to mildew that grows within the pages, due to the book. How to repair and restore antiquarian books alibris. Bookbinding is a specialized trade that relies on basic operations of measuring, cutting, gluing and involves fastening loose pages together inside a cover to made a book. Bible restoration makes old bibles with significant damage beautiful again. For those who love vintage clothing and collecting old leather books, restoration leather conditioner from preservation solutions can restore seriously dry, damaged and cracked leather goods. I was able to buy marbleized end paper to use on covers. If your book is leather bound, rub petroleum jelly over the cover with the soft cloth and then buff it to achieve a likenew shine. Reconditioning old leather books leather book dressing youtube. Leather book repair leather book restoration sussex book. Whether you have one book or several that need repair, we can cost effectively restore your books to their younger versions. If the cover is completely rotten, with crumbling leather and little shine left, theres not much that can be done to restore the cover. This damage is not possible to repair, so many bibles need new, customized full leather covers. Take unwanted stickers, labels, and tape off your album covers by heating the area around the offending sticker with a hair dryer.
Reconditioning old leather books leather book dressing. Or you grab the leather dressing or the elmers and fix them yourself. We are members of the american institute for conservation book. This is why it might make sense to restore a damaged local history book to a state in which it can function again as a book. It was published in 1857 and although the text was good, the covers were quite bad. If the leather on your book is rubbing off in your lap or hands, there is little that can be done to restore it. Some book restoration issues can be undertaken quickly and easily inhouse with this guide at alibris from an antiquarian book restoration expert. Too much sunlight fades the spines and weakens the leather. Better yet, id like to invite readers whove used leather. There are chemical solutions that can be applied to harden things, but binding experts still disagree on the usefulness of these treatments and the longterm effects. This may be best left to a professional or someone with experience in bookbinding. Many families are concerned whether if their family heirloom bibles and rare books can be restored. Step by step instructions on how to repair a bible cover or book spine properly for a book that you want to keep.
Note that this cover is seamed at about 14 in from the fore edge, and the covers. Bookbinding combines skills from other trades such as paper and fabric crafts, leather. Trimming is available if you would like the old pages trimmed slightly to remove old. I am teaching myself to repair old books with leather covers but cant find out how to clean and recondition old leather. We often see people handle rare leather books with white gloves and actually cringe. Windex and similar products to clean dust jackets and clear plastic book jacket covers. That said, here are some specific restoration services we can offer you. If it is overly hard, it requires coating with a product known as a leather conditioner. That leather derives from living creatures should make us ever more eager to care for it. I briefly explain my recipe, methods and show how to restore the health and luster of old leather books. Windex and its competitors are usually fine on plastic, but when using them on book jacket covers, its wise to dilute half glass cleaner, half water and apply on a clean cloth rather than by spraying. Step by step instructions on how to repair a bible cover or book.
Today we are recommended by many libraries, bookstores, and dealers. Paperback books are especially vulnerable to the wear and tear caused by voracious readers. If you touch the book and it leaves a reddish powder on your fingers, the book has a condition known as red rot. Chap who has taught me uses mink oil, but most conservation advice is not to use anything for fear of damaging the leather. Book repair instruction, classes and book repair supplies. The heat breaks down the adhesive and makes it softer and. The new leather cover is now glued onto the outside of the old bible cover.
This has made norris bookbinding the leader in bible repair and bible restoration. Open the book s front cover and brush or vacuum away any evidence of mildew on the inside of the cover. We will give you an honest appraisal of whether or not we believe it would be worthwhile to restore or rebind your book, and an estimate of the cost. Old books are a charming link to the past, but quite a fragile one. Restoring old leather bound books i am teaching myself to repair old books with leather covers but cant find out how to clean and recondition old leather. Your guide to restoring antique leather pecard leather care. Your guide to restoring antique leather while theres nothing like the smell of new leather, theres something extra special about antique leather and restoring old leather to as good as new. Restore your vintage and antique leather preservation. Of course we suggest your hands should be clean when handling rare leather books. Many low grade petroleum solvents contain sulfur which can destroy stitching. Step by step instructions on how to repair a bible cover or book spine properly for a book that you want to keep do you have a broken book and need some help. If extensive work is needed, we can give a rough estimate based on photos but will need to do an inspection once we receive the book for a true estimate. Unlike other book restoration services, we can usually repair your book. I leather bound a very old book several decades ago.
1220 1474 432 699 68 759 178 113 312 768 675 827 1076 975 698 912 169 1420 288 504 155 748 1033 456 146 1262 1188 279 387 317 1078 775 681 1080 271