BOOK restoration

Book restoration is one of our specialisms. We have been repairing old and damaged books for over 30 years, including commissioned work for museums and rare collections libraries. Our workshop uses traditional methods to retain the character of the original binding, using best quality Morocco, goat and calf leathers as appropriate.

Books are assessed in consultation with the customer and repairs agreed to reflect the content and spirit of the original.

Click here to see recent projects

For more information about prices please contact us for a quote

The Jungle Book with a new calf leather half binding and marbled boards

A series of Spectator books that we conserved and restored

Three books with new leather quarter bindings

A series of The Spectator that we recently restored with new leather quarter bindings

What We Can Repair...

Please get in touch for prices and quotes.

Repair sewing
Replace end pages
Repair torn pages
Leather or cloth rebacks
Rebind in leather, cloth, leather and more
Rebind as a hardcover or as a softcover
Blind embossing
Re-dye faded leather
Gold tooling and blocking in gold, silver & coloured foils
Create raised bands on a spine

our materials

We use only the best quality materials for all our new and restoration bindings.

Leather

We use best quality Moroccan goatskins and calf leathers, available in a range of colours.

Cloth

Good quality bookcloths and hard wearing buckrams.

Thread and Glue

The linen thread is waxed for strength and durability. All our books are restored using specialised bookbinding PVAs.

Embossing

We use gold, silver and colour foils for all our restoration work.

Brass type that we use for tooling book covers

Brass type used for adding lettering to book covers

One of our bindings showing book cloth and marbled paper

need A Quote?

Every book is unique and it's hard to give an accurate quote without seeing the book, so we always recommend bringing your book in for a no-obligations quote. Call or e-mail us to arrange an appointment

" The work that Rachel James has done has given us great pleasure. Anything she has had to replace has been done so tactfully, skillfully and strongly. I very often get the books out just to look at her work "

Ivy Woods

Bristol