He’ll Restore Your Family Bible

He’ll Restore Your Family Bible FARM HOME Miscellaneous Old family Bibles are the most common books that Dan Robards restores at his used bookstore Viking Books in Alexandria Minn “I often get Bibles from the late 1800’s and they need a lot of work On most of them the front and back covers are detached ” Robards says adding that he also repairs a lot of old family cookbooks Besides basic repairs that start at around $40 he offers more intensive repairs that include new bindings new leather covers and embossed leather with hot foil stamping He learned book restoration by visiting other book repairmen and taking classes Robards worked in commercial printing for 25 years before “retiring” and opening his used book store and Robards Book Binding & Repair He located older equipment that he needs for restoration and has collected dozens of fonts and decorations used for embossing That has come in handy for one steady customer who wants all his books recovered with leather covers A more challenging job from another client is fixing atlases some from the 19th Century “Atlases are challenging The bigger the book the more worn they are because they are too big to fit right on a shelf ” Robards says Sometimes the best he can do for books falling apart that customers want to keep original is to build a clam shell storage box which is hinged on one side to open like a book “I’ve worked on books as old as the early 1800’s back when covers were wood and tied with twine cords I can use the original boards but the twine is rotten so I convert it to a modern binding ” he says Robards talks to customers to find out how much work they want done before he begins - from simple repairs to choosing exotic leathers for the cover When they send the book to him he can determine what he can do There’s not much he can do for old Bibles with tissue-thin paper that have been “fixed” with tape or rubber cement There have been a few books he’s had to send back without any repairs But that doesn’t happen often “My favorite part is giving the book back and having them say ‘wow’ ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dan Robards Viking Book 606 Broadway Alexandria Minn 56308 ph 320 491-8514; vikingbk@gctel net

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