How To: Restore An Old Book

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If you love old books, then you’ve probably found your way to Ohio Book Store. We took a few tips from the pros on how to restore our own literary treasures:

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Photographs by Jeremy Kramer

1. Take everything apart. Easy.

2. Clean out any dust and dirt. Got it.

3. Restore the book block. What? The book block is the stack of pages, unbound. Make them nice and even

DEC14_RADAR_BookRestore_24. Replace the old cloth with a new one to strengthen the binding. Make sure it matches the spine, so any preexisting holes aren’t as noticeable.

5. If necessary, make new letters using a Ludlow machine for typesetting followed by a Kensol stamping press. Use the mold to emboss gold foil letters onto the spine.

DEC14_RADAR_BookRestore_36. Attach the spine of the book to the front and back covers. Also known as “casing in.”

7. Attach the spine to the book block and put it back on the shelf for another 200 years.

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