Artur Bookbinding International specializes in the repair and restoration of family bibles of all sizes. We understand the importance and sentimental value your family heirloom holds to you. This Bible was sent in to us after being recommended by the Library of Congress. This Family Bible was missing the original front cover and the back cover which was still present had a hand written note from the 1800's which was glued onto the back. This was one of the many things that were important to the customer, so we restored the original cover and made it the front cover. We also saved the original writing that was on the inside of the cover and inserted it into the bible along with moving the record pages to the front of the bible and adding extra record pages for further generations to add their names to the Family Bible. This bible repair was unique to us as it was the first time we dyed the labels on the spine instead of using leather to make a label. We also took several pictures of the restoration including the process of saving the original writing on the inside of the cover. The original spine was glued onto the spine of the bible, so we were not able to save it. The outcome was amazing so we had to add it to the top of our Family Bible Restoration Page!!!
Artur Bookbinding International - Bible and Book Restoration Specialist
This is a before picture of the Whaley Family Bible. As you can see, the Bible only has one cover, the back. We moved this original cover to the front and made a new cover on the back. The customer did not want the Bible to look brand new, so our restoration kept the old look to the bible.
First we had to remove the old cardboard that was glued to the leather of the old cover. We split the cardboard in half and started to carefully tear away the old board.
We have successfully removed the old board from the original leather cover.
We have almost removed all of the old board. This step is the most important when removing because when you get closer to the old leather cover you have to be more cautious not to cut or tear the original leather cover.
The customer wanted the original endsheet saved. As you can see there is some writing from previous generations of family members from the 1800's. This was written on the inside of the cover, so we had to remove paper that was glued to the cover board.
We started to tear away the old board from the original endsheet with writing on it which was glued to the cover.
Removing glued cardboard from paper is extensive work. Glued paper can tear very easily, so this is a very time consuming step.
We have almost removed all of the board from the endsheet with the writing. The tan is the paper, the brownish color is the old board.
We successfully removed all of the old board from the original leather cover and original endsheet. You can see all of the board that was removed to save the original cover and endsheet!!!
Now we begin to make the frame for the cover. The brown leather to the left is the old leather cover. The brown leather to the right is the new piece of leather that will be made to look old. The strips are to make the design of the cover.
We lay down the strips of board to make a design on the new cover.
The cover to the right is the completed base of the cover. The one to the left is a partial of the design of the cover.
This is the picture of both sides of the cover completed with the base design without leather layed over it.
Here we lay out the type that will be imprinted onto the new spine.
Now we insert strips of leather to make the hubs on the spine.
Here we have just the spine with the leather hubs glued in and the type set in to give of visual of what it will look like.
It is hard to tell in this image, but if you click and enlarge it you will see that we added a smaller strip of leather to the other leater hub to give a raised affect.
This is the finished layout of the cover without leather layed over it.
This image is the cover from the previous images with leather layed and glued onto it.
Normally when we do labels on spines we do it with a piece of leather. A label is where you have different colored parts on a spine. This time we decided to do labels by dying the leather. This image shows the area we taped off the section we wanted to dye
Artur Niebieszczanski, son of Master Bookbinder Zbigniew Niebieszczanski mixing leather dye to achieve the right shade of green.
Artur Niebieszczanski is pressing the tape with a boning tool to make suer there is a tight seal. Dying a label requires much more attention to detail than making a label from leather. The dye can "bleed through" if applied to heavily..
This is the spine dyed with the green and black sections. The tape was used to catch any of the excess dye. Being a dark brown cover, more attention was made with the black as it would show more on a dark brown cover.
Here we are dying the red label. We use a very fine brush to apply the dye to ensure accuracy and limit "bleed through."
We finished dying the labels. Now we dye the rest of the cover brown. We also use a very fine brush when dying around the label so the brown does not bleed through and turn the label brown.
Here is the finished cover when dyed. The right side has the old leather cover inserted to the window we made. The window allows us to insert the old cover and protect it from further damage. The window is raised slightly higher so the old cover is set in some, protecting it from further damage.
This is the cover with both pieces of leather inserted. Notice that the cover on the left side is a new piece of leather that was dyed. We used special techniques to make this new piece look old and match the original. We also stamped the name and date in 24 karot gold leaf and we stamped some ornaments in the blank spot which did not have type.
This is a picture of original endsheet that we save earlier. The paper was glued to the inside of the cover, we removed all of the old board and glue from the back of it and inserted it into the Bible.
This is the cover with the leather folded in. This angle shows the back cover, which is a new piece of leather made to look old and worn to match the front original cover.
This is the final product. The lighting causes the back to look darker than it actually is. Further images below show a better match of color.
Below are several images of the completed Whaley Family Bible.
Please click on any image to see a full page image.
November 15, 2009
Artur Bookbinding International 1117 E. Poplar P.O. Box 1300 Fort Gibson, OK 74434
Dear Artur and Zbigniew,
I can’t express how happy I was when I received the restored 166 year old Whaley family bible. Your knowledge of restorative bookbinding is truly remarkable. Even more impressive was your ability to transfer years of experience and technique into simple concepts that anyone could comprehend, and more importantly, compel me that you and Artur Bookbinding International were the firm to do this project.
Your online references and examples of previous book restorations made all the difference. Special thanks for that compassionate and insightful explanation to the process details that you would undertake in the restoration. The service and personal attention I received was exceptional and unexpected!
I would highly recommend Artur Bookbinding to help anyone interested or considering a professional restoration of an antique bible or book. In my personal opinion they are truly a high caliber team of restoration artists. This was easily a great investment on a treasured family heirloom.
