The restoration of Victorian Family Bibles is a staple for many bookbinders, and yet the technique is rarely taught in depth. In this week long class, Dominic will lead  you through the many steps involved in this very specialized repair.

Victorian Family Bibles are large, heavy, and sturdily built. They differ from ‘ordinary’ leather bindings in that they have thick, often sculpted boards, reinforced cloth joints, elaborate gold blocking and often metal furniture and clasps. These features together mean that when it becomes necessary to repair them, they present specific challenges to the book restorer.

We will begin by detaching the boards, removing the spine leather and cleaning  the cover — removing dirt from the gold and re-dyeing the scuffed leather. Any repairs to board edges and corners will be done at this point, including repairing and cleaning the metal furniture (including, if necessary, shaping new brass pins to hold the clasps in place).

Next we will remove the old spine linings, clean the spine thoroughly, spilt the boards and insert strong cotton hinges. The endpaper joints will then be repaired and the boards reattached. Headbands will be repaired and put back on, and a new many-layered spine hollow added.

The Bible is then ready for rebacking with dyed goatskin, a process which requires skill, accuracy and patience.

This is an intensive class which is suitable for those who have experience in restoration and working with leather. Students will be required to provide their own bible , and advice will be given on how to choose a suitable example for the class.

Materials to bring: bone folder, metal ruler, scalpel, cutting mat, dividers

Date & Time: Monday-Friday, August 11-15, 2014 :: 9:30am-5:30pm

Workshop + Materials Fee: $650

Prerequisites: None

Please review the SF Center for the Book Registration Policies before signing up for a class

About the Instructor | Dominic Riley

Dominic Riley learned bookbinding at age 16 from Benedictine monks and at the London College of Printing. He spent the last 10 years in San Francisco teaching, lecturing and restoring rare books. He now has a bindery with Michael Burke in England's Lake District and serves as vice chairman of the Society of Bookbinders.

He also recently won the top award of £10,000 ($15,670.89) at the second Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize 2013 ceremony.The BBC filed the following report. To view the original article click here.

Past Student Reviews:

“Dominic is a masterful teacher. Very good with ALL students”

“Superb! Set the time frame very well so we could all complete work. Very helpful to slow learners!”

“Instructor was amazing- knowledge of technique, history, and personal anecdotes was informative and interesting”

"Dominic's classes are always worth attending. You learn about the history as well as the binding you are studying"