This is why I can’t stop giggling while working on this 18th century herbal.
Categories
Tag: antique books
Categories
Currently on my bench is this book about a 1875 voyage to the Arctic. This particular passage reminded me of when I lived in Chicago, and simultaneously made me glad I now live in a MUCH warmer place! Also I absolutely love how the title looks like it has little icicles dripping down from the […]
Categories
“Treat books gently; for books are kind friends. We benefit by their advice, and they exact no confessions.” Most of this 100+ year old advice is still good! Some of my favorites are: -“Books are not intended for card-racks or for receptacles of botanical specimens.” -“Books should not be toasted before a fire or be […]
Categories
Today’s work: a brace of matching re-backs on a biography of architect Daniel H. Burnham.
Categories
Fancy book butts!
Categories
Edge decoration and marbled endpapers on an 18th century French binding.
Categories
More paste paper found on one of our library books. Red, black, and gold paint that’s still shiny!
Categories
German paste-paper appreciation post. All of these books were found in my library’s circulating stacks, by the way. I just went down the rows and pulled out the ones that caught my eye, photographed them, and released them back into the wild! 🙂
Categories
Spotted this cute cover with a dapper bicycle riding man on it. The red cloth of the spine has faded dramatically, but the cover was still a nice bright red, and the gold stamped decoration remains shiny. The book is “The Wheels of Chance” by H.G. Wells, and this edition was published in 1896.
Categories
Paper curls from cleaning the spine of an old, big book in the conservation lab. I usually start out my spine cleaning by using a special dull knife to scrape away as much of the paper lining as I can, until I get down to the crash/mull/super fabric lining underneath. That’s when I switch to […]