Long Island’s Book Binding and Book Repair

"When I undertake a repair or restoration, I strive to keep the book as close as can be to the condition it was published in." — Paul Bélard

Bible Repair & Restoration

The cover of the Bible above was entirely detached, dried out and the top of the spine was coming apart. I reattached the cover, dyed the leather and treated it with natural wax. Now, this circa 1870 Bible illustrated by Gustave Doré and others is ready to last another century. Click here for more examples.

Book Repair & Restoration

This is a restoration project for the Strathmore Vanderbilt Country Club in Manhasset, NY. It consisted in replacing old fake leather spines on a door panel in their library with new one, including gilt titles and decorations. Click here to see more examples.

Custom Bookbinding

Art deco type binding for a book made from scratch as a sort of scrap book. It contains newspaper and internet articles, documents, pictures relating to the young woman whose picture is inserted in the cover. In addition to the picture, the cover features two colors of morocco leather, a strip of marbled paper and two golden lines as accent. The end papers are made of the same marbled paper as on the covers. The spine features raised bands, a golden title, and golden accents. Click here to see more examples.

The Bookbinding Process

See some of the tools of the trade involved in the binding of a book from start to finish. Click here for a quick tour.

The Illustrated Newspaper

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper was a news magazine founded in 1852 with continued publication well into the 20th century. At the start of the Civil War, its circulation had reached 164,000 and was also published in German. Click here to see their illustrations and woodcuts

The Golden Age of Bookbinding

See some fine examples of hand-stitched, hand-dyed leather covers and spines from the Golden Age of bookbinding.

References:

Complete Traveler Book Shop, New York City
D. Von Bothmer, Curator of Metropolitan Museum of Art
Nelson Doubleday, Editor and Owner of the Mets
Bob Brier, American Egyptologist & Senior Research Fellow at CW Post
CW Post Library, Special Collections
R.F. Lewis Museum of African American History, Maryland
Pat Conroy, Author (Prince of tides, Beach Music, The Great Santini).
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Seawanhaka Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY
Association of Descendants of the Mayflower
Book Revue Book Store, Huntington, NY
Strathmore Vanderbilt Country Club, Manhasset, NY

CONTACT PAUL

Please call: 631 271 6671 or, use the form below.

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