My client's grandma said my book repair was 'too perfect'

I fixed a 1940s poetry book for a client, and when she showed her grandma, the old woman got quiet. She finally said, 'It looks brand new now. The broken spine had my dad's fingerprint in the glue.' It hit me that sometimes a 'perfect' fix erases the history. Has anyone else had to decide between a clean repair and keeping the marks of use?

4 comments

4 Comments

emma4551mo ago

That's a really good point about the grandma's reaction. Sometimes a repair can take away the story the object tells. Maybe the goal isn't always to make it look new again, but to stop more damage while keeping its character. It's a tough call between doing your best work and preserving those personal marks.

angela_patel751mo ago

Oh man, it's like that with old jeans too!

wren2301mo ago

Ever notice how this is the same fight people have with old houses? Like do you fix every scratch or leave the worn spots that show it was actually lived in?

paul_ramirez1mo ago

My old house has more character than I do, @wren230, but maybe that's the point.