Post

apophis
@apophis.girlonthemoon.xyz

glad she's got a real website as linked in OP! (genuine, not sarcastic - i had just boosted the insta link, then thought about it for another second and unboosted it, before seeing this reply)

Sherrerd
@duerpress.com

I'm glad that the artform/science of saving old books exists. But it's depressing to see all the stories about truckloads of books being dumped in landfills or being burned.

NinjaFrog
@ninjafrog.bsky.social

As an Ex-Library Aide, I appreciate all of this. Sadly I mostly only plastic'd books up, which sort of destroys the beauty. But I like to think I hardened them so more people could enjoy them longer.

Jailoon
@jailoon.bsky.social

Every once in a while I come across an older book that is not plasticized. Cloth cover, thick pages. A delight to hold, a delight to read.

Rea Aja LaCasse
@reaja.bsky.social

I'm a bookbinder and I promise there is nothing wrong with the CircExtender covers. Plastic though they may be, they extend the life of books and keep them in the hands of people and when it comes time to repair or restore they are easily removed and the books are so much better for it.

JWas
@justbluejeans.bsky.social

Did a bit of conservation work when I worked at the library. Nothing to this extent, though. Basically just scraping 'flood mud' off of pages, repairing pages (similar to what's shown here) and making boxes that held materials that we couldn't rebind.

Ralph Darvill
@tringdriventhing.bsky.social

Beautiful. My first job was as a gold blocker. Only on crappy free stuff mostly, but I did have to do the The Financial Times Diary a couple of times...only fifty were given away each year...and only two spares, so no screw ups allowed!

Joe Dakroub
@dakroub.co

I have admiration for anyone that can do any kind of work by hand. This takes real patience and care. A real labor of love.

TitaniumTeddyBear
@titaniumteddybear.bsky.social

This is amazing! Just don't let Amazon get them. They've been destroying rare books to train their AI. (in order for the pages to be read by the machine they have to be separated, this means dismantling the book and later shredding it ☹️)

Call me Tim
@slimjimtx.bsky.social

This some amazing work here. I can’t imagine the number of years and the innate talent it takes to accomplish something like this. I am duly impressed! Restore all the books, please!

Mr Ru
@mr-ru.bsky.social

Their machines slice off the book spines, so the loose pages can be fed into a scanner. They're pretty much trashed in the process. I also read something about some weird copyright thing, that requires the original to be destroyed, but that doesn't make sense with old books.

Mom-Ra, Queen of Unfinished Tasks
@epukane.bsky.social

I actually started by taking a class at my local community college. I’m nothing like as good as this person (and truthfully I don’t aspire to be) but I’ve made some books that were good enough folks thought were done by a professional.

Adamantis
@tempodelte.bsky.social

Have a look at Douglas Cockerell’s “Bookbinding, and the Care of Books” (should be available online as out of copyright), and for a more recent exploration of fine bindings, Jen Lindsay has an excellent book. (There are a lot of books out there, just more are probably out of print)

Sanity Zone
@sanityzone.bsky.social

Thank you, Adamantis. I might have to hit Powell's City of Books. They commingle new/used books and I frequently find OOP titles. I confess, I hadn't hunted before commenting. But I'm sure to bring home a stack, hopefully including the titles/authors you mentioned.

Von Neely
@vonneely.bsky.social

If you're referring to the Bartz case, they were unbound for scanning. They still exist in storage. And Bartz lost his case because the judge ruled it was kosher. I did the same thing with my CD collection decades ago and no one complained.

Odysseus
@odysseus93.bsky.social

Bookbinding. Book repair. These are sacred skills. Any AI scum destroying these for there little data centers and other nefarious activities needs their hands broken.

Dr Vandermast
@drvandermast.bsky.social

Pages started falling out of my signed hardback of Tad Williams' To Green Angel Tower after a friend read it. So he had it re-bound for me. Surely the only signed hand-bound copy in the world? 🙂

UnHappyZombie
@korpsejanne.bsky.social

Some 20 years ago I had to go to a bookbinder with this one for the spine was about to fall apart. Now the spine is still in perfect condition but the edges are bit worn. I recall the dude said something like "come back in a week" - he really had conservation jobs to do. Craftmanship!

Bamboozer
@bamboozer2112.bsky.social

Nothing better shows the evil intent of the people behind AI then this, the deliberate destruction of old and rare books to create a monopoly, to "corner the market" so that none may have it without paying them. It is a game of destroying the past.

hoseyg62.bsky.social
@hoseyg62.bsky.social

I drive shuttle in the Canadian city of White Rock.. 1 of my regulars is a 90 year old retired bookbinder who apprenticed then practiced in England in the 50s thru to retirement ..he restored the 1st Bible printed in the English language..dated from 1584.. ..just something that came up casually..

Debbie Kuhl Wendt
@debbiewendt.bsky.social

One of my college jobs was in a rare books library at IT Austin. We got to learn how to create “phase boxes”’and create plastic covers for (more recent) book jackets. Phase boxes were out of acid free paper and were to keep the books safe before they got to the top of the conservation queue.