On this page I’ll provide important information on the restoration of the four most common types of bibles I am asked to do on a regular basis. The most common types of bibles are:
Victorian Era Bibles
Mid-Century Catholic Bibles
Personal Bibles
Antique Bibles
Late 19th Century Bible
Victorian Era bibles were published between 1850 to 1900 . I specialize in these bibles and have developed restoration techniques I think provides the best possible restoration available anywhere.
Tens of thousands of these bibles were printed between 1850 and 1900, often with sculpted leather cover boards with elaborate gold tooling. These Bibles hold tremendous sentimental value for families who used them to initially record the family history. Prices for these bibles have begun to increase greatly in the last ten years or so as genealogy and family roots research have become important. Many of these Bibles are at a point in time where they need restoration work to be able to survive for future generations. When I have completed a full restoration, I have no qualms about claiming the Bible will last many generations in to the future.
Most bibles come into my bindery with the covers falling off; the leather worn, ripped or missing all or part of the spine, often with pages loose, ripped or barely hanging on. In short, they are a mess. More severe cases have warped covers and sometimes all the gold is worn off. The most severe cases often have duct tape on them, many pages in tiny little pieces, or even mold. I fix them all.
The cost for a family bible restoration of this bible style averages between $1,200 and $1,500 based on the level of existing damage. There is about 10 hour of hands on labor needed to make the repairs, but you get back a fully restored bible.
Typical work includes removing parts of the front and rear covers to allow new leather to be attached to the boards; new leather over the spine as part of the new hinging system, and the original spine placed back on for originality and patina; new headbands, page or paper repairs; new inner linen hinges; repairs to damage or missing leather; cover cleaning, leather treatment, color replacement; and sometimes gilding replacement if the bible is a suitable candidate for the process. You get back a fully functional bible that will last many generations and will not require special handling or limited use.
Typical Mid - Century Bible without damage
Mid-20th Century Catholic Bibles - Having bonded leather covers, with pictorial inserts and pictorial end papers, these bibles usually have a flexible lip that folds over the pages for protection. This lip and the cover materials are main failure spots on this type of bible. Bonded leather is imitation leather material laminated onto a base material of cardboard. The underlying cardboard acidifies and breaks easily at the touch.
I restored these bibles two ways, but always with genuine leather as the primary base materials. I don’t like the flexible lip design shown in the picture to the left and below, so unless you specify you want that lip, I rebind without it. The lip design works well for small bibles you carry in a bag, but it is useless on a large bible like this. Below are teo examples of bibles of this style I restored. The lower left bible is genuine leather with a new leather spine insert as the original was lost. The bible on the right is genuine leather with parts of the original binding mounted in recessed panels.
Leather binding with original graphics reproduced on a contrasting leather label. Front and rear covers tooled in a Cambridge panel design. This binding cost typically averages $1,050 to $1,200.
Leather binding with parts of the original binding inlaid. This requires extra labor to make the inlay areas, pare the leather to lay flat in the areas. It also requires a restoration treatment process on the original covers to make them flexible enough to conform to the new binding. This style restoration averages $1,200 to $1,400. (Shown with a slip case, which I recommend for preserving the bible going forward.
Slip cases start (like the one shown above on the right) start at $175.00 for a basic looking case. These slip cases and the most complicated clamshell case are the way all major libraries, museums and collectors protect irreplaceable books, Housed conservation grade slip case, built to Library of Congress standards for book storage enclosures, your bible can be handed down for many generations without additional damage occurring to the binding.
Personal or Reading Bibles – I do accept personal or reading bibles for restoration. Surprisingly these small bibles are one of the more difficult books to restore. Made inexpensively to be mass marketed at a price point that would insure large volumes of sales, these books use the thinnest of paper, very light sewing threads, and typically covers of bonded leather, a synthetic material. It is a perfect manufacturing combination for an affordable reading or study bible, but unfortunately these bibles often become a treasured possession lined with notes that aren’t transferrable. Compounding the problems for a binder like me, is the flexible cover design that allows the book to be held open in a manner that produces a semi-permanent backward curve in the spine of the book. When the book comes in for rebinding, these issues cannot always be addressed.
There are several small binding operators, based in the Bible Belt areas that specialize in these types of bibles, and a google search, using the term “personal bible rebinding” should produce a list of such binders.
Antique Family bibles published prior to 1850 are usually bound with calf or sheepskin leather bindings. Sometimes they are decorated or adorned with metal clasps like the early 16th century bible on the left. They are always hand bound. Sometimes these bibles can be very old, very valuable and quite beautiful, like the image here.
Most bibles printed before 1850 were bound done by hand, and require some extra care when restoring.
Restorations of older, hand bound bibles start at $1,50. Below is a short slide show of how one bible was completely restored with a period style binding.
