Thoughts on New Bindings vs. Conservation/Restoration

If a bookbinder has been properly trained in the Art of Fine Bookbinding/Book Conservation they are usually able to pull of both types of Bindings with a high level of skill. You find though, that each Bookbinder has a preference to either Binding New Fine Bindings or resurrecting the original bindings with Conservation/Restoration. I have found there to be a distinct choice between the sexes. Most female binders lean towards conservation/restoration whereas males lean towards new bindings. If I may dip into the psyche of this pattern it makes perfect sense. Most women by nature are nurturers and want to take something that has been worn and misused and neglected and with a gentle hand, rebuild it, using all of its original parts back into a solid, beautiful, fully functioning artifact. Men, however, seem not to want to deal with all of the crumbling parts and would rather discard the original and start with a something fresh and new. I refer to myself as a Fine Bookbinder/Book Conservator because in my business there is a call for both kinds of work. I excell, however, at Conservation and find the work much more rewarding.
http://www.book-restoration.com

Traditional Hand Bound Fine Cloth Bindings on Modern Bibles

I get a lot of requests to save modern Bibles. They were usually purchased for $10 and have a short life because they are used so much. Also, because the covers are machine bound and the materials usually cost in the cents. I almost always choose to put on a new cover in cloth or leather. The goal is for the binding to last the length of the owners lifetime and then to be handed down to their children. I can rebind them in either cloth or full leather. People usually opt for cloth because of the $100 price tag. They receive new boards, headbands, mull, acidfree paper lining on the spine, the cloth is always something sturdy like a english buckram or canadian linen. They are a solid hardcover English Binding with excellent flexibility. I usually do a 22k gold hand tooled leather label and gold lines at head and tail of the spine. I try to save the original endsheets if possible as they usually have notes and scripture written all over them. http://www.book-restoration.com/

bookbinding with shedded snake skin

I have been collecting shedded snake skins for years on my family's farm in Kentucky. I recently tried binding with one. I have always been hesitant as to how it would work as the shedded skin is so delicate. I cut a piece of the snake skin at the fattest part and flattened it out. I cut the same size piece of kozo shi japanese tissue. I used PVA and glued the kozo shi; then laid the snake skin on it,,worked it with a bone folder; then put it in the nipping press for ten minutes. It adhered perfectly. I then proceeded to try it on a small binding. It worked perfectly, adhering to the board and successfully made a nice little binding out of it. The snake skin darkened when lined with the tissue giving it a beautiful color and texture. Give it a try some time! But only use shedded skin... don't kill a snake to make a book! http:// www.book-restoration.com