Childrens Book Conservation/Restoration

Most childrens books that come to me are in terrible condition. The pages have been scribbled on. The cover torn and extremely worn. The text usually has to be resewn.
This Uncle Remus is a First Edition Cloth Binding. It required a complete dismantling. Page repair, section repair, resewing. New hinges, relining of the spine, cloth reback with matching cloth. The final product is a solid binding. The only thing I don't mess with too much is the discoloration on the cloth covers. Acrylic paints dabbed on can even out the problem. I prefer to leave the discolorations as it gives the book character and keeps its antiquarian charm.
Please visit my website at www.book-restoration.com Go to the examples book and you will enter my photo gallery. I have a cloth restoration before and after section you will enjoy.

Cloth Binding Conservation

Many times when I am Conserving a Cloth Bound Binding, I have to match the original cloth. There are two important points of consideration when doing this. The material should match exactly or very closely, and the color needs to match exactly. I almost always have to dye the cloth to match eventhough I have an extensive antiquarian cloth selection to choose from. Usually there is a original spine I can relay but in the case of this book there wasn't one. A 22k gold tooled leather label is sometimes the way to go, especially if there is a lot of gold embossing on the cover. In this books case, I found that a hand tooled ink/paper label would look better. The final product is a beautiful, solid little cloth binding ready to be sold or saved in ones collection. Please go see many of my Cloth Conservation before and after photos at my website at www.book-restoration.com