John Dough – Cloth Reback

A first edition Frank Baum, John Dough, found its way into my shop. The cloth bound book looked good, but on inspection I discovered the spine was falling apart and the hinges torn and loose. After removing the brittle glue, I rebuilt the spine using a thin raw linen for the hinges and paper hollow tube.

Turning my attention to the boards it was mostly a repair of the headcaps and mushy corners. The cloth headcaps were opened and lined with a thin linen to protect and support the spine. After splaying the corners I pasted and reformed them to offer good protection of the contents. I lined the back of the endpapers’ joint with a thin mulberry.

On joining the boards to the contents this Cloth book restoration should be good for another hundred years, if the creek don’t rise.

Before - Note the caps

After - The real work's under the hood.

Headcap Before - Note the spine, hinges and headcap's condition.

Headcap After - Headcap relined, hinges repaired and a rebuilt spine.

 

 

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Binoculars Repair – Apart & After

Whether these binoculars have been opened and cleaned in 95 years is not known. They came apart easily and even though one eyepiece had collapsed the threads were not damaged. The lenses were dirty inside and out. The felt rings inside the tubes was bad and caused the action to open and close the barrel difficult. On one side of the tubes the leather had split and was dangling.

After cleaning the parts the action was vastly improved. Bits of new leather filled the void of what was lost. Light staining and oiling made the leather presentable. In reassembly everything fit and was not difficult.

It’s funny, these binoculars have the resolution and brightness of a cheap toy. They are better than the unaided eye, but must have given the user headaches if their pupil to pupil width didn’t fit these fixed lens. Einstein believed the greatest barrier to knowledge was our limited senses and the tools we use to measure.

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Binoculars Repair – Restoration

It isn’t all about books and paintings, sometimes there is a pleasant surprise. These binoculars are to be restored. In that process I will clean the lens, oil the screws and barrels and fit leather to the areas of loss. Come back soon and I will post an after  shot of the project.

These French (Colmont – Paris) WWI field glasses were passed down through an American family from an officer who had served in that war. Can’t wait to get into these!

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Found in the Family Bible

Old family Bibles have a treasure trove between their covers. As a bookbinder I have been amazed at what has been secreted away in the leaves of these heirlooms. Below are a few of my favorite things.

  • dove wing
  • ringlets of hair from 12 family members
  • bread crumbs
  • corsage
  • naturalization paper
  • land deed
  • love letter
  • church service bulletin
  • flowers
  • wedding certificate
  • calling card
  • newspaper obituary
  • scrap of ribbon
  • stock certificates
  • silver pins
  • fabric sample
  • old photographs
  • paper cutouts

Have you found something in your family Bible? If you can add to this list leave a comment.

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Genealogy website should come with a warning label

by Kathryn Brown of the East Oregonian 

I’ve never been one to get obsessed with a video game or website, until now. It turns out that www.ancestry.com is seriously addictive. Yes, I mean the genealogy website. Family trees — I just can’t get enough.

Here’s my story: I was recently struck with some motherly guilt, when I came across my baby book. I had one of those mothers who documented the eruption of every tooth, the date of my first haircut (complete with a little envelope containing a wisp of that first-cut hair), my height and weight on every birthday, my first words (“good girl!”), my first successful tricycle ride and so on.

No, I am not one of those mothers — nor is my husband so inclined to document each detail of our children’s first years.

But, what we lack in details about the early years of our children’s lives, we make up in the sheer number of digital photographs taken of them. Barely a week goes by that they are not subjected to the camera.

So, when my kids ask me how old they were when they took their first steps, I’ll have to admit that I have no idea — but we can probably pin it down by looking through photos for the first time they appear to be moving on two legs.

The best thing about my baby book, though, is the family tree. Even when I was very young, it was fascinating to think about the fact that just four generations earlier, there were 16 people alive that I descended from in equal measure. Most of my great-great-grandparents were born almost exactly 100 years before I was.

I remember my great-grandmother, Elsie Aldrich, studying our family history. Back then, in the 1970s, that meant writing letters to ask for copies of birth, marriage and death certificates, and waiting months for a response. It meant traveling to the state or country your ancestors came from and pouring over old newspapers, hoping to find a tidbit of information.

Elsie lived to be 98 years old, but since she died in 1983, she never experienced the Internet. But I’m certain if she had been able to check out ancestry.com she would have been as fascinated by it as I am.

When I got to thinking about recreating my family tree for my kids, I went online. Within two hours, I had traced several branches of my family tree back to the 1700s. Three days later, I traced the Aldrich line back 13 generations to William Aldrich, who was born in England in 1574.

I was hooked. In the next 10 days, whenever I had a spare moment, I was on ancestry.com, checking census records and birth certificates, ship passenger lists and social security documents. I took peeks at other families’ trees to see if they linked up with my own.

I love the names I found: Missouri Ellen, Zelotta, Experience, Mercy, Amasa, Ebenezer, Viola and Lola. There’s even a Lady Katherine way back.

But, there are frustrations, too. I quickly ran into a dead end when I looked for my father’s father’s grandfather. I think his name was John Brown, and I think he was born somewhere in England in the 1850s. Turns out there were a lot of John Browns back in those days, as there are thousands of possible matches.

It’s interesting to see how many children some of my ancestors had. One had 14 children with three wives — the birthdates are such that I’m pretty sure he was twice a widower, rather than a polygamist. One of my great-great-great-great-great grandmothers had 12 children, all with the same husband. Two died in infancy, two were twins, and she lived to be 82 years old. I can only imagine how many grandchildren she had.

My daughter was amazed when I told her about the family with 12 children. Her reaction: “Wow, that’s so many! How did they all fit in the car?”

Kathryn B. Brown worked as a registered nurse and a family nurse practitioner before coming to work for the East Oregonian. She and her husband live in Pendleton with their two children. She can be reached at kbbrown@eastoregonian.com.

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