And we’re back!
Today’s From the Bench is the transformation of a family bible that had been unfortunately stored on a painted surface. After years of being stored this way with direct contact, the book had bonded to the surface. Fortunately, when removed, more of the paint came with the book than leather stayed on the paint! Still, after removal, it was left in a pretty bad way. As you can see from the photos. Luckily there was very little in the way of red rot or other leather damage; and aside from the over 1/16″ paint layer on the back cover there was minimal wear and damage to the gilt.
Other than the extensive cleaning and touch up, the book had very little page repair, and overall the paper was in fantastic condition. Along with very impressive illustrations this version of Family Bible had a Temperance Pledge page! Something I have known about, but never seen in person. It would have been more interesting if any of the registry pages would have been filled out, but that is always a 50/50 chance. If you want to look it up it is an interesting piece of history. The Temperance movement of the late 1800’s laid the foundation, and was almost directly responsible for the Prohibition Era of the 1920’s. You do not usually get these in such good condition. Another exciting thing is the condition of the photo pages in the back! Not only were they in amazing condition, but there were ancestral photos! That almost never happens. No images of those pages for privacy reasons, you’ll have to just take my word for it!
So. After many hours of soft touch cleaning, touch up, and structural reinforcement, here is the Whitney Family Bible.
I hope you enjoy this latest view From the Bench! Check out the rest of the series!
Before:
After:
