People dressing up as bigfoot and cat woman have disappeared from the street, and a long, hard fought battle of the U.S. presidential election has finally come to an end. Whether or not the result was in your favor, now it's time to shift your focus into a positivity. What's done is done, and anger and frustration only create more anger, eh? Suppose, you drop $100 bill, and keep whining and frustrated about it for a long time. What does it create? You are making yourself miserable by thinking about it on top of the fact that you lost $100. It's a double whammy, yo! So, now, get serious about how big of a turkey you should roast for Thanksgiving (haha...) and what to get for Christmas for your loved ones. I always say this around this time of the year, but please don't bring Christmas rush jobs at the last minute! We might close Christmas orders as early as two weeks prior to Christmas depending on how backed-up we are. So gather up your ideas and get here quickly!
This is one of our very organized client's Christmas restoration jobs that was sent in a few weeks ago. This is a fourth edition of A Christmas Carol, 1844. Although it's a fourth edition, it's still a pricey book. So needless to say, all original material had to be preserved and the restoration must be done as invisible as possible. Restoring old cloth binding can be tricky as matching a new material to the original takes some skills. Master thinks I'm better at it, so it came to my workbench.
Well, if you know anyone who resembles $$ Old Scrooge $$, remind him of this classic again. It's never too late!
Like Tiny Tim says, "God Bless Us, Every One!" ~ Hope for peace from M.H.R.
Agree totally on the positive outlook to take regarding this grueling election process we've all been through. Life will go on, and guess what -- we get to do it again in four years. In the meantime, let's get back to the things we love, like, say, bookbinding.
ReplyDeleteHaving repaired a number of old cloth-covered books (of only sentimental value to the owners of them), I'm aware of some of the skills it requires to match old to new, but I still have a million questions about how you do this so invisibly. For now, though, I will spare you and just glean what I can by staring admiringly at these photos.
Well, I don't think I'm doing anything special or different from any other restorers when it comes to repairing invisibly. I think I just naturally have a "good eye" to see the color and texture of objects well and my mom gave me a tiny set of hands that's perfect for detail works. ;-)
DeleteDear MHR, thanks a lot for your positivity and by your tone I guess that you have your health restored.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful pictures of this copy of A Christmas carol!
Thanks a lot for sharing it!
Yea, it's hard to believe, but keep telling yourself positive things everyday makes your life happier and fulfilled eventually, even if there doesn't seem to be anything positive going on in your life. Power of mind, eh?
DeleteMe again, with one TINY question I can't resist asking: On a project like this, do you try to find matching commercially-made book cloth, or make and color your own? If the latter, do you have a go-to material, or try to find something matching the texture of the original at a fabric store? Or something else entirely?
ReplyDeleteOkay, sorry, that's more than one question, but they're just tiny ones, aren't they?
Hi Todd,
DeleteIt all depends on the job. As long as it matches the original, anything goes! I do use commercially made cloth as is if it exactly matches though it's rare, or I manipulate it if it's different. I do recreate a facsimile if there isn't anything that can be used. One advice I can give you on this topic is that you need to see is the texture of the original first. It should be matched first and foremost. Then the color, which can be easily imitated.
Thank you, MHR! Matching the texture (or at least coming close) can be difficult, I know; but it's nice to be set on the right track. I work in relative isolation and very often wonder, "How do the real experts do it??"
ReplyDeleteThanks again!