Books & Family Bibles
Our goal when conserving and restoring books and bindings is to have the artifact function like new while maintaining its antique integrity and authenticity. By repairing the existing binding, replacing materials and recreating lost material where required, a book is made strong and useable, without compromising its value as an artifact. When the binding components are no longer salvageable, the binding is recreated to match the original features as closely as possible, see period/historic rebinding. Treatments for books and bindings include but are not limited to:
-
Rebacking – replacing the spine with new materials dyed to blend with the binding adhering the original spine over top or recreating the appearance of the original spine as closely as possible. This includes replacing the adhesives and spine linings ensuring a strong binding structure.
-
Reattachment of covers to textblocks, including replacement of the adhesives and spine linings.
-
Repairing inner joints at the endpapers or replacement of endpapers
-
Repairing and rebuilding corners and caps
-
Repair of soft cover books by cleaning the cover, infilling losses and repairing tears followed by reattachment to the textblock including replacement of the adhesives and spine linings
-
Repair of tears and losses as desired
-
Separating ‘blocked’ (stuck together) pages
-
Removal of library stamps, hand written inks, foxing and other stains.
-
Historic rebinding
-
Preventative care through the construction of custom enclosures
Before and After Treatment Examples