Greetings from Sussex Book Restoration, the occasional diary of a Sussex bookbinder
Hello and welcome to the occasional diary page for Sussex Book Restoration. I update this diary/blog from time to time as and when I have interesting or noteworthy restoration projects come in that I’d like to share with you. In the entries below (scroll down to see them), you’ll find ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos to illustrate the descriptions of the processes that I’ve carried out on these books. I do hope that you find these occasional updates interesting and that you’ll return from time to time to see what I’ve been working on recently.
Michael Sassen
Facsimile title page. Replace marbled endpaper
This attractively-bound children’s novel from the early 19th century had like many old children’s books, seen better days after years of ‘enthusiastic’ use by previous young owners.
Leather spine reback with spine reused
This article is about a leather spine reback where the original spine was reused in the repair. This little 18th century volume arrived with its front cover detached. The edges of its covers were quite worn and spongey and it lacked its original spine label.It is often near-impossible to remove the spine intact on these […]
Repair of a torn pictorial endpaper
This article is about a pictorial endpaper repair and binding restoration of a Winnie the Pooh story book. This well-worn copy of ‘The World of Pooh’ had been in the owner’s possession since childhood. It had quite obviously seen a lot of service over the ensuing years. The hinges of the cloth binding were torn […]
Book restoration of John Constable’s notebook
This article is about a book restoration carried out on a notebook owned by the artist John Constable. One of the most absorbing projects that I’ve worked on recently is the book restoration of a 19th century notebook. This book of handwritten notes was reputedly owned and compiled by the artist John Constable. The book, […]
Morocco binding reback and refurbishment
This article is about a Morocco binding reback and refurbishment. This handsomely bound volume on Maori art would have looked splendid when new at the turn of the 20th century. It was almost certainly bound as a special ‘presentation’ copy of this work. However, many years of exposure to sunlight and central heating had dried […]
Cloth book repair & resewing disbound books
This article is about a cloth book repair and resewing a disbound text block. Many of the examples of repairs that I’ve featured in older posts here, are on books bound in leather. Cloth-bound books come in just as often for repair. Many exhibit the same problems as their leather counterparts. The covering material on […]
More examples of leather family Bible repair
This article describes examples of leather and cloth bound family Bible repair. Its not uncommon for a family with a long history to own an old ‘family Bible’. This may well have been passed down through multiple generations. Many of these contain important handwritten information about the family’s history. Over time, these Bibles sometimes become […]
Leather family Bible restoration – step by step
This article shows a step by step demonstration of a leather family Bible restoration. Large family Bibles One of the most common tasks that I undertake is a leather family Bible restoration. This is usually required when the covers or the spine have become detached from a large Victorian Bible. These hefty family Bibles, all […]
Leather corner repair & binding refurbishment
This article is about corner repair on leather bound books and the refurbishment of leather bindings. Leather bindings can dry out over time and become rubbed, especially at their hinges and corners. Small splits can start to appear at the tops or bottoms of the hinges. Also, the leather covering over the corners can become […]
Spine, corner and Bible repair
This article is about Bible repair, leather spine restoration and corner repair and restoration. It’s over a year since I last added anything to this work diary and 2016 was a very busy year. A wide selection of books both antiquarian and modern passed through the bindery for restoration or repair. These ranged from treasured […]
Leather book restoration & corner repair
This article is about resewing a broken text block, leather book restoration and corner repair. This 18th century copy of Boyer’s English-French Dictionary was once owned by a direct ancestor of it’s current owner. The book arrived with the text block split into 5 sections. The spine was pretty much worn away and both covers […]
Leather book repair on a treasured music score
This article is about a leather book repair on a small music score. Not all of the books that I work on are rare or of high monetary value. Many of the books I restore are relatively common volumes that have a sentimental connection for their owners. This is often enough reason to make them […]
19th-century leather photograph album repair
This article is about a Victorian leather-bound photograph album repair. The 3rd of my ‘most satisfying jobs of 2015’ was to work on this late 19th century family photograph album. The album had been compiled by it’s elderly owner’s grandfather. It had suffered the ravages of time. Pages had come loose and the covers and […]
Morocco binding repair. Spine re-used
This article is about a Morocco binding repair. I’ve just completed this restoration of an illustrated book on natural history bound in half Morocco. This attractively bound volume arrived with the back cover detached. The spine was very rubbed and the binding was held together by old sellotape. This useful reference book had definitely seen […]
Vellum binding restoration on 17th century book
This article is about a vellum binding restoration. I’ve just completed a very satisfying restoration of a volume bound in a 17th century limp vellum binding. The book, printed in 1674, arrived with it’s contemporary binding in a poor state. Condition of the vellum binding prior to repair The lower part of the spine had […]
Full gilt leather spine reback
This article is about the leather spine reback of a two-volume set. The original spine tooling design was closely copied on the new spines. Another job that came in over the summer was a magnificent two volume quarto-sized edition of Pope’s Works. The set was bound in contemporary full panelled calf with a full gilt […]
Small family Bible restoration
This article is about a family Bible restoration. A local customer brought in his cherished small mid-19th century family Bible for restoration. The Bible contains a unique handwritten history of his family going back almost 150 years. Unfortunately, it was so damaged that he didn’t dare handle it. Consequently, it had languished in a cupboard […]
Morocco binding restoration
This article is about a Morocco binding restoration. This volume bound in full Morocco came in earlier this year. What had been a richly-bound volume in the 1870’s had become dried out and damaged. The hinges had split and the top and bottom of the spine had been rubbed away. The leather, once a deep […]
Autumn update
It’s been a while since I last posted any updates to this section, so it’s about time to update on some of the repair and restoration jobs that I’ve completed in recent months….
Corner repair leather reback to C18th book
This article describes a corner repair and leather reback to an 18th century book. I’ve just completed quite a satisfying corner repair and leather reback. It’s a good example of what is possible when the corner of a volume has been badly damaged. This copy of ‘Hoyle’s Games’ dating from around 1760 came in for […]
Spine restoration & facsimile page. 1626 Ovid
This article is about the spine restoration and creation of facsimile pages on a 1626 edition on Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Over December, I’ve been working on a fairly collectable, but slightly bereft copy of Ovid’s Metamorphosis dating from 1626. This copy had been rebound in the early 19th century with a fairly unnatractive spine. The front […]
Leather spine rebacking & period gold tooling
This is an article on leather spine rebacking where the original style of gold tooling was replicated onto the new leather spine. Rebacking the spine of a crudely repaired 18th century leather binding Soon after I started repairing the 1575 edition of Caesar’s Commentaries, a damaged 18th century edition arrived at my workshop. As with […]
Replacing an old leather spine repair pt.2
This article details the repalcement of an old leather spine repair. The old repair had failed and the book required a new spine. This was tooled in gold in a style contemporary with the leather-bound covers. I completed the 1575 Caesar’s Commentaries some time ago, but haven’t got around to posting an update on the […]
Replacing an old leather spine repair pt.1
This article is about replacing an old leather spine repair with a new leather spine. This process is known as ‘rebacking’. Amongst the books that I’m currently working on is a 1575 edition of Caesar’s Commentaries. This book presents an interesting, though relatively common challenge. Repairing a failed leather spine repair The book is not […]
Leather spine repair on a set of books
This article is about leather spine repair on a set of books. Over the last month, amongst others I’ve been working on a 6 volume early set of Morris’s British Birds. The set is a family heirloom of a customer in West Sussex. Multi-volume sets are always slightly challenging to repair as once repaired, every […]
Facsimile page to replace a lost text page
This article is on the creation of a facsimile page to replace a missing page in a book. Missing pages Over the passage of time, it’s not unusual for the odd page or two to become detached in a book. As long as the detached page(s) is still present, it is relatively straightforward to re-insert […]
Greetings from Sussex Book Restoration, the occasional diary of a Sussex bookbinder.
Hello and welcome to the occasional diary page for Sussex Book Restoration. I update this diary/blog from time to time as and when I have interesting or noteworthy restoration projects come in that I’d like to share with you. In the entries below (scroll down to see them), you’ll find ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos […]