Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In addition to being a photographer, I am trained as a hand bookbinder. The short answer is yes, rebinding would reduce the value. Also, a good rebinding will not be cheap (think in terms of more than a hundred dollars) and a cheap rebinding will not provide you with a useable book. A book collector will try to keep the book in as close to original condition as possible which can include some repairs, but certainly not rebinding. One option is to have a simple "fall-back" box made to hold the book and avert further deterioration. Another option is to preserve your best copy and buy a beat up and falling apart copy for reference. If you want a valuable book, you can have a "designer binder" make you a beautiful leather bound book with gold tooling and leather on-lays, however, in that case $1,500 of the value of the book would be in the $1,750 you put out for the job. Are you a book user or a book collector? A user will enjoy the book and have it expertly repaired so that she or he can continue to enjoy it. The collector will be more interested in the books value and appearance than its contents and will preserve the book at all costs and trade up for better copies. Sound familiar and on-topic? If you are truly interested in rebinding and don't know much about the book arts, let me know and I can provide more detailed advice. In conclusion, I can say that this is a notoriously poorly bound volume and some loose pages probably will not reduce the value too much. Buzz Hausner > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Butz [SMTP:bbutz@thegrid.net] > Sent: Monday, November 30, 1998 6:43 PM > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Gunter Osterloh "Leica M, the Advanced > School of Photography" > > I have a copy of Osterloh's book, "LEICA M The advanced Shool of > Photography > "First English language edition 1987, but many of the pages have come > loose > from the binding. Would it destroy the value of the book if I had it > rebound? Bill Butz