Rebindings

We all look forward to a brand new year hoping for brand new things. 2020 was challenging for everyone no matter what due to the pandemic and also other issues. A large part of work has been put on hold and postponed, my classes with students have been disrupted. Not having the physicality of meeting and sharing has taken a toll as my work is solitary. With people working from home they have gone to their bookshelves for comfort and many who are religious have looked at their bibles and wanted to rebind their precious possessions.

I have a log of bibles that have changed people's lives and in turn have become worn out and in states that clients think are of disrepair. As someone who repairs books, there's no such book that is in a state of disrepair. The book can be in a condition that requires a copious amount of time and care to restore to a useable state and that depends on the owner, if he/she wants to put in the resources to get it back to a good condition and also depends on the skills of the bookbinder.

The joy it brings to the owner when they see their bibles after repair is unlike any other. It puts meaning into the hours that it takes to pull apart the text block, clean the spine, repair the pages, rebind the signatures and then re-case it into a new cover. No matter if it's a contemporary bible or a family bible that has been passed down a few generations, the same amount of care and consideration is used to consider the repair method and rebinding.