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Book Repair |
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| Tryon Press |
Turn off the tube. Read a book! |
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Roscoe's 1882 History of Schoharie County rebound in leather.
The endpaper is imported from Italy. A wide variety is available.
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I took up book binding and repair in 1993 when the county historical society published Sloughters' History of Schoharie County and the books came through with an inferior binding. Since then we have rebound hundreds of books including some in the Middleburgh public library historical collection, the hymnals at Beard's Hollow Church, a set of hymnals at the Middleburgh United Methodist Church, several sets of Schoharie County Historical Review magazines, several old family and pulpit Bibles, and several copies of Roscoe's History of Schoharie County. A 1770s Bible of one of my wife's ancestors is an on-going project. It was left in a barn for many years and recovered with many pages missing, many others despoiled and hard leather on the case remnant. The most interesting thing about this Bible, other than its two Psalms, one in verse, is the fact that the high-linen rag paper of the time is good enough to allow washing, so I have been washing the pages as the leather softens (hopefully) and as I contemplate reassembly options. People often ask if a particular book can be rebound, The answer is always "yes, if the paper is not too brittle or otherwise fragile." Any two pieces of good paper can be bound into a book. The issue sometimes is, can it be rebound to look like the original, and binders often can match the materials and make unobtrusive repairs. Often, however, I find that people just want a good sturdy, usable and attractive book, and that's fine, too. The other big question, of course, is cost and I can only say that there are so many variables that the book must be examined and the various alternatives discussed with the client. The work is all handwork and some tasks are quite slow. Leather work in particular is often expensive, and not because of the cost of the leather. The relatively small amount of leather in a leather spine binding is only a fraction of the cost of the new spine. Thinning and skiving the feather edge on the leather requires skill and patience, and other preparations are required as well. Roscoe's 125-year-old history is an interesting binding that is at the end of its life span. If you own one with a broken spine, or open an unbroken one and find it breaks on you, that's to be expected. This book was printed on single sheets and so could not be sewn through the fold as is usually the case. The pages were sewn together in groups and typically the books are splitting between two groups of pages near the center. There are several ways or rebinding these and making good, strong sturdy books that should last another 50 to 100 years, but typically the price to the customer is $200 to $400. My billing rate is $25 an hour and in many cases, repairs can be made for $10 to $20. |
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Lester E. Hendrix • PO Box 711 • Schoharie NY 12157 |
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