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Title: The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New: A Simple Repair Manual for Book Lovers
ISBN: 0312326033
Author:
Margot Rosenberg
Bern Marcowitz
Publicate Date: 2004-03-01
Publish: 2004-03-01
List Price: $13.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.86
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| Customer Review: |
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1: YOU CAN GET THIS SIMPLE INFO FREE ON THE INTERNET
Boy, was I disappointed with this book. The Author certainly took advantage of a good title, because that is all you will be buying. I didn't count how many times "the jury was out on this one." The only thing I got from this was a list of home remedy supplies and I still don't know what I am suppose to do with half of them. Since then, I have typed in google "how to clean old books" and have come up with the exact same information and more. This was a complete waste of money, especially when you add in shipping charges. Good luck!
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2: Help for the neophyte book repairer!
The backcover blurb reads "Here at last is a short, simple, inexpensive guide to book care and repair." Amen! While this book, as other reviews suggest, may not be ideal for rare or leather-bound books, it is great for the mundane volumes of any book collection, or for experimentation purposes, if you're a neophyte repairer. Their advice for removing old price stickers, e.g., is excellent and easy and less harmful than the use of a fingernail. In addition, the advice comes with a charming dialogue about dogs the authors have owned and loved, and the dogs' contribution, or lack thereof, to the book owning and cleaning process. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it as a first step toward book repair mastery. Just don't try it on your Gutenberg Bible!
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3: Easy to read and helpful for beginners
This breezily written guide to repairing books (and many other aspects of book buying and collecting) is a good introduction to its topic for the casual collector. The writing is extremely clear and simple, and the authors do not give advice on more advanced repairs in which you might do damage to the book. It is more of the "how do I get the price tag off the jacket?" or "what do I do about a dirty fingerprint on a page?" variety. And that IS helpful.
At some point, the reader becomes aware that the book is no longer talking about book repair but about various topics that become less and less related to the original topic: how to store books, how to handle books, libraries, book borrowing, and so on. I found this somewhat entertaining, though it does not fit into the book's putative topic, as given in the title and subtitle.
The authors write in a style that is very informal, with many references to their own lives and experiences. This makes the book easy to read, and it is generally not overdone so much as to become cutesy-wutesy. However, the authors' constant references to dog, including the most far-fetched analogies between book care and dog care, did become tiresome. No matter how much the authors love dogs, they should understand that most such references are not actually useful and that some readers may be cat people--or even just book people. However, the effect of this was not to impede understanding; it was simply annoying a few times.
Overall, a good, short introduction to this topic that is easy to read.
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4: You're Better off Leaving Your Books Alone!
As a Librarian who specializes in Preservation Management, I found this book somewhat appauling. I found it to be full of factual errors. Many of the cleaning and repair procedures described in this book would actually do more harm than good in the long run - while book tape, rubbing alcohol, homemade paste, and Elmer's glue might seem like harmless substances, these items will break down over time, yellowing, cracking, and damaging your treasured book. The bookbinder's motto is not as these misguided souls profess "Don't make it any worse", but rather "Don't do anything you can't undo". Readers of this book will come away with just enough knowledge to do some real damage! If you're unsure of your methods, you're better off leaving your books alone! If you're really interested in learning book repair, there are many manuals written by trained professionals who actually have some idea what they're talking about.
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5: Repair Your Beloved Books
The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New is a lovely little volume that provides the novice book repairer with all the information they need to make minor repairs on damaged books. The authors do an excellent job of describing the tools needed and methods to be used, and are very clear about what sort of damage should be tackled only by an experienced book binder. The repair of loose pages and broken hinges are covered, as well as what to do about a stinky book.
I believe this is an excellent book for any bibliolater (defined by the authors to mean anyone with an extravagant devotion to books) to have on their book shelf. With the dust jacket in a protective cover, of course.
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