In our last episode, the little Bible book was on life support, hoping for another chance on the bookshelf over the dustbin alternative.
Good news.
Front and back covers have been reattached and a replacement piece of cover art has given the book a more presentable look. I’m hoping that the book’s owner won’t be too startled by the changes.
There were a few specifications that made the project slightly out of the ordinary book rebind. She wanted to keep the original feel of her father’s childhood book but wanted it sturdy enough to take off the shelf and read.
It’s solid enough to easily last another half-century. There’s a new covering at the spine that holds the boards for the front and back covers. That’s topped with a nice piece of thin leather with raised straps. The cloth covering is one that I had purchased to redo a Civil War era book – the lady at the fabric shop had a piece of material that was based on fashions of the mid-nineteenth century.
One of my rules-of-thumb about old books is that they should be in a condition that allows them to be displayed or shown off to visitors. If your old book is shedding pieces of paper like cat-hair, you’re less inclined to leave it out on the coffee table. This one had that problem, but – no more.
Those Old World bookbinders have my admiration. I’m a graduate of the bookbinding school of hard knocks. Nothing too fancy.
But this little book will probably still be serving its purpose long after I’ve checked out of the library.
