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Found out at the Ohio Book Fair that most 19th century Bibles were bound in sheepskin, not leather
A binder named Dale had a booth in Columbus and let me flip through a repair log he kept since 1987, and 6 out of 10 family Bibles he'd worked on had sheepskin covers that people kept calling leather. Sheepskin wears way faster and gets that fuzzy, worn look, which is why so many of those old Bibles feel like felt instead of smooth. I always assumed it was cheap cowhide or just age. Now I'm second guessing every estate sale Bible I've passed up because the cover looked rough. Anyone else run into this, and is there a quick way to tell sheepskin from cowhide without a magnifier?
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ray_sullivan12d ago
Wow, so every beat up Bible cover is a hidden sheepskin treasure now?
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