New Testament and Psalms with Yapp (overlapping edges of the book) Binding; cover has severe damage and missing leather.
Cover of the book with missing leather at the top of the spine.
Weights hold the cover in place as Kozo is used to rebuild areas of missing material.
Repairs in process. Rebuilding of the missing areas is almost complete. The outside of the cover is given special attention and additional strengthening. Next steps will include redying and dressing the leather to preserve and protect the surface, as well as repairs to the gold titling.
Cover and text are reconstructed, leather dyed and preserved, titling repaired and the book sits in a protective clam shell box.
Book Repair, Book Restoration & Conservation
Light of Day Bindery receives books documents, boxes and slip cases in all stages of deterioration. There is a small fee for evaluation of books and documents, however there is no obligation for a customer to go forward with the restoration.
Dea examines all parts of an item to determine conditions and need for treatment. Broken joints, split hinges, soiled, torn and missing pages, bumped corners, damaged endbands and caps, broken threads, and many more problems can be corrected in the bindery. We clean and salvage all the parts of the book as necessary.
Any customer can feel confident that we will address their needs within the range of our services. When necessary, Light of Day refers documents to Etherington Conservation Services in Greensboro, NC and the Northeast Document Conservation Center in North Andover, MA.
Paper is often in need of cleaning and deacidification, and frequently books need to be washed and the pages buffered to arrest the the discoloration and brittleness that develops from the effects of acidity.
When there are missing pieces, as in the cover of this New Testament (photos on right), archival materials are used to rebuild what is missing and repair what is damaged. Titling and decoration are refurbished or replaced with mindfulness to the value of the book, its uses and the wishes of the customer.
As a final step, we are often asked to prepare a clam shell box. This structure helps to reduce the four main agents that damage books: light, air, abrasion and dirt. The box takes all the abuse and the book remains stable for much longer periods of time.
Below you can see the before and after of one of our cook book projects. Refer to the Pricing tab or call the bindery for estimates of different kinds of work.
- click on images to enlarge -
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