Book Description

Fourth edition, revised and expanded from the 1998 edition. A welcome new addition in this book is a full color section for the indentification of leather and marbled papers. From the author of "History of English Craft Bookbinding Technique" (also published by Oak Knoll & The British Library), this classic in the field of bookbinding is a practical guide to the restoration of leather bindings. Revised and expanded, this work reflects advances in techniques and materials, and contains current information of suppliers and related publications. The book has chapters concerning definition of terms, tools and materials, cleaning, removing the spine, resewing and alternatives; gluing, rounding and backing; headbanding, back lining, preparation of boards, rebacking, replacing the spine, repairing caps and outer joints, repairing caoutchoue bindings, repairing corners, blending new endpapers, straightening warped boards, rebinding pasteboards, salvaging old sides; staining, aging, tooling and refurbishing, recording repairs and a section of selected reading. Alternative approaches are included for rebinding when the original covers have been lost or are beyond restoration, modern rebinding, and replication of original bindings by combining elements of both modern and historical binding techniques. Middletown's work is designed to be a comprehensive handbook for practitioner and student alike when formal training in restorative techniques are unavailable. Also included is an updated listing of binders' suppliers.