An educational and informational site about rare, old and antiquarian books.
Book repair, book restoration, book preservation, book conservation or do nothing at all. With a worn or damaged book in hand, the choices for treatment (or no treatment) may seem bewilderingly complex. Add to this the contradictory advice and opinions offered by different authorities, it may seem impossible to come up with a ‘best’ course […]
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Sotheby’s sold Fitzgerald’s masterpiece The Great Gatsby New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925, at an auction last month for $377,000 including buyer premium. The lot was traded at the high end of the estimated value, signifying the fact that rare book investors and collectors will pay premium prices to acquire top quality books. This particular […]
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Like many people do, I get to visit the local flea-market in Athens every weekend. The first thing I turn my attention to are the piles of books on large cloth sheets lying on the ground. Of course, some book sellers use benches, tables and so forth, but most of them prefer to use something […]
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For quite a while now, I have wanted to put down to paper some thoughts about the situation here in Greece regarding the book binding profession and the broader bibliophile interests in general. I could not say that people in Europe have lost their interest in books as a direct result of the financial crisis. […]
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It is not unusual for many collectors and researchers to come across old books retaining their original paper binding. Centuries ago, the books were sold by the printer or the publisher. The client, who had requested a title, purchased it directly from the workshop; the book was in booklets tied up together with a string. […]
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Rare Books Digest hosts opinions and views of international book trade professionals such as the one this week from contributor, book restorer, Alexandros Deligiorgis of Bibliodesia in Athens, Greece. (http://www.facebook.com/bibliodesia) When we have to deal with old books, whose covers are missing, and they are seriously damaged or not bound, and need to be restored, what type of binding […]
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Last month we published a set of tips and techniques regarding book conservation, and mentioned a number of book care supplies that can be extremely helpful in carrying out some fundamental book preservation tasks. This month we will provide more details on some of the specific products from specific conservation suppliers that are available and […]
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We all have come across books that are in bad condition. Books that have suffered the consequences of exposure to one or more of the enemies of paper books, such as water, mold, smoke, dirt, direct sunlight, dust, insects, bad shelving and so forth. As any rare book collector should be familiar with, some of […]
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Rare Books Digest occasionally hosts opinions and views of international book trade professionals such as this week’s contributor, book restorer, Alexandros Deligiorgis Bibliodesia in Greece (http://www.facebook.com/bibliodesia). To my mind, book restoring should not be considered an ordinary job, just a means of livelihood and nothing more than that. It serves our cultural heritage. […]
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