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Just got back from a trip to Boston and their public library's bindery room blew my mind
I was visiting family over the weekend and stopped by the Boston Public Library to check out their exhibit on book arts. They had this huge bindery room with old equipment and even a leather paring machine from like the 1800s that's still in use. The guide said they do about 200 repairs a year for rare books in their collection. I got to watch one of their staff repairing a damaged spine using linen thread and wheat paste, looked like something out of a history video. Has anyone else toured a library bindery and seen techniques that surprised you?
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alicer531d ago
That does sound interesting but I'm not sure it's all that different from what any decent library does to keep old books in decent shape. They're just putting on a good show for the tourists.
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danielr991d ago
Watched that demo space on a visit a couple years ago too and honestly @alicer53 I gotta push back a little. Most libraries absolutely do not have a working leather paring machine from the 1800s or a dedicated bindery room full of vintage equipment that's still used daily for actual repairs. The one I went to just had a standard repair corner with some basic tools. What gets me is they were using reversable wheat paste instead of modern glue which is smarter than a lot of places that just slap on cheap tape or rubber cement for quick fixes. That attention to old school techniques is pretty rare these days.
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