Thanks to Corey for the following guest post:
My Christmas present this year was a
Leonard's Book Restoration rebind of my "daily" Ignatius RSV-2CE hardback (Ignatius
RSV-2CE). If you remember, my "test run" of Leonard's work was a
rebind of my RSV-2CE Ignatius pocket NT-Psalms, which came out very nice (NT-Psalms
rebind). I have since enlisted the aid of Leonard's to do a number
of rebinds of that pocket NT-Psalms as nicer Christmas presents for people very
close to me. They have been VERY well received.
But it simply did not make much sense for me
to not get my full size RSV-2CE rebound. Because my full size RSV is my daily
"read and underline/highlight" bible, I wanted that daily bible to be upgraded.
I chose Leonard's "Circuit Rider" style from their "Historical Series" (Leonard's
"Circuit Rider"). I loved the look and history of the style. True,
it is technically a "Protestant" bible style, but I like to believe that
rebinding a "Catholic" Bible in a "Protestant" historical binding is at the height of bible ecumenism and evangelism
;) !
I am extremely pleased with the product.
Leonard's puts these historical styles through a "process" (as Margie says)
that gives the final product an antiqued look without damaging the leather at
all. The bible came to me feeling well "loved", yet perfectly taken care of.
The craftsmanship is top notch. It is a perfect paring of a good Catholic
translation used by the Catechism and a wonderful binding.
This style is clearly designed to travel well, per Leonard's site:
"This style is made of thick glossy chocolate
soft-tanned goatskin as a stiff flex-cover and still includes raised ribs and
“Holy Bible” in the Wedding Text font on the spine, and an old-fashioned
wraparound tab closure. It’s great for backpacks and suitcases, saddle bags and
satchels, making a neat package without ribbons." Leonard's does not demand
that you use the "marbled" end pages. But they are historically
accurate (per
Leonard's). You can substitute their nice "hand milled"
paper end pages if you prefer (or probably others). Also you can use ribbons,
but those are not historically accurate (again, per Leonard's) because of their
propensity of getting caught, pulled and/or soiled with heavy
travel.
The style opens well
and the tab does not get in the way of reading/working in the Bible. I could go
on and on. I highly recommend this style and I'm sure the other historical
styles are of equal quality. This style probably runs you about $50 or so more
than doing one of the Leonard's more typical rebinds. I can't recommend
Leonard's enough.
Peace of Christ to you all. ~
Corey
Does the protective flap lay flat when you have the book open, or does it get in your way? I have a journal with a similar cover, but the flap is always getting in the way.
ReplyDeleteThe flap/tab does lay flat. Leonard's craftsmanship shows experience. They did not reinforce the places where the flap bends so it will lay flat.
ReplyDeleteWow, so much for Catholics getting "Bible envy", it looks like Leonards has many options with quality, style, and function that are beyond what I have seen from any publisher.
ReplyDeleteWas this the hardback that was rebound? I think I would have rebound my leather edition of the RSV-2CE with the gold edges (and had it put into hardcover.) Either way it does look great (and now I need to avoid the Leonard's website like the plague, ha ha.)
Forgive my crassness, but could we ask you how much rebinding set you back?
ReplyDeleteHow long did the rebinding take(from your initial inquiry until you received the rebound book)?
I'm guess that the bible needed to be restitched (Ignatius uses glued bindings, right?) How did that turn out? Did it adversely the affect the inner margins?
Can the Bible open flat? (Photos?)
How did the interior binding and end pages turn out? (Photos?)
Thanks so much for sharing this post with us.
I'll get with Tim on more pictures. i think the entire process was around $190 with shipping. Not cheap, yet, when I was considering it I realized I have *unfortunately* spent much more on professional sporting tickets. Where should I spend money? And it was pretty much all I got for Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteI considered doing my gilt edge Ignatius, but that (to me) is a stay-at-home-don't-mark-in Bible. The Bible I had rebound is my "field" Bible for Church talks/evangelism. Hence the "Circuit Rider". I may have my nicer Ignatius rebound (one day) in a nicer "shelf" rebind.