Book Repair

Is my book worth fixing?

I am often asked whether or not book is "worth" fixing.  My answer is always that it depends not so much on its monetary value, as what it is worth to you., and sometimes what it is worth to you can not be measured in dollars.   It is a "beauty in the eye of the beholder" kind of thing.

What type of book do I repair the most?
The Holy Bible.

Bibles come to me in various conditions.  Many times I have to build brand new covers for them.

A soft cover can become a hard cover and a hard cover can become a soft cover.

If the original covers and spines can be saved, I try to save as much of the original as possible.

The Bibles come to me in all sizes also. From the personal size to the big Family / Pulpit Bibles.

The next most popular book that comes in for repair is cookbooks.

Some of the cookbooks contain recipes handwritten by a Grandmother, Mother, Aunt.

Some are old favorites that the customer wants to preserve and be able to continue using, like "Woman's Home Companion Cook Book" below.

What the new covers look like depends on what the customer wants.

The customer for the "Woman's Home Companion Cook Book" wanted as much of the original saved as possible.

The customer for the cookbook above didn't want to save any of the original covers, of which there was only one left. They wanted simple brown covers with a label on the front  "Grandma Belle's Cookbook".

A couple of the pre-1900 books I've worked on.

For more before and after pictures of books I have worked on, please see Book Repair Gallery page.