Book Repair

[Ben]

So, I've got a friend who does book repair and I have had her redo the bindings on a bunch of my books because even though they were vintage, I feel like being able to read them without them coming apart is more important than the fact that they look old.

A couple had what looked like mold, so to protect the rest of my library, those covers were thrown away. I made her keep some of the original elements, but what would you guys do? Would just keep them in their original bindings or have them redone?

Here is the before on one:

Here is the after:

What do you think?

To be fair, there are a couple she wouldn't do anything with, but when would you change something out and when would you keep it that same?

 

[Foofoogal]

How timely. I have a bunch of old books and just found out thru face book an old friend is quite an expert in old printing presses and rebinds books. I was going to ask them this ?

Anyway, I think your book looks great. I read once to put old books in plastic and in the freezer for a time to kill the mold and any bugs. I would like to confirm this if anyone knows. I did it before we moved so did I just get cold books? lol

I am not sure but believe unless it is really rare and you want it for your own library it is better than just deteriorating to nothing. IMHO. Books and buttons are the one thing that confuses me for some reason with antiques. Intimidates would be a better word.

 

[Foofoogal]

To be fair, there are a couple she wouldn't do anything with,

?? why?

 

[Ben]

Sometimes cleaning or repairing books can do more damage. In those cases, whe will usually make some kind of container for the book.

I aksed her about the freezer thing. She said that institutions will use special freezers to do that, but that a home freezer won't really do the job because it can't get cold enough and has too much moisture.

If you want to see a little more about it, her blog has a nice intro post about the process.

It also has a description of the book repair process, which was one of my books -- a 1915 Gardening book that my Grandfather owned.

http://speakeasy.redletterbindery.com/2010/01/07/some-terminologylearn-to-know-what-youre-getting.aspx

 

[Foofoogal]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I am so, so, so glad there are folks who learn trades like this to preserve or restore our artifacts. Very nice indeed.