LEATHER BINDING PROJECTS

One of our clients has requested for a facsimile printing of Tyndale's New Testament first edition be bound in a full leather style sympathetic to the period of early 16th century.

Currently there are only two known copies in the world. One of the volumes, is found at The British Library, but it has an 18th century period binding, with evidence of an ornate gilt spine. The other copy is part of the state library of Stuttgart, Germany and is in a period binding, but with a twist that it has been bound to fit the royal owners vanity, so not entirely typical of the period.

For information on the forbidden language used by William Tyndale check out the British Library at this page, http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/changlang/writtenword/tyndale/tyndalelang.html







The first step was to remove the publishers cloth binding, colour the edges with an acrylic yellow/ochre-brown colour, this gives it the aged look. Then using unbleached linen thread over hemp cords, we sewed on the endbands.

The end-caps were done with a small soft-edged finish typical of the period.



We lined the spine with aero-linen and used the over hang to attach the boards. Three square cords were used, mimicking the German binding.

The cover was with a dark brown goatskin, the customer's choice, but the originals would have most likely been covered with a light brown coloured calf. A tight-back structure was used (the leather is directly adhered to the spine) and the end caps were kept minimal as the period dictates.

 The modern margins have been preserved so the final size is slightly larger than the original. Because we have made the binding with a "tight-back", spine linings are at a minimum and therefore the books opens in comfort.

Single blind lines were applied to the spine panels, either side of the cords and the boards have a blind single line outer and inner panels with adjoining diagonal lines running from the inner corner of the outer panel to the outer corner of the inner panel.

We chose a plain brown leather binding as this is what is most likely what the original bindings would have been. The size of the original is called Octavo, and is exactly in size to our pocket Bibles. Tyndale had intended it to be read by the "common" or ordinary people. For more information check out The British Libaray's website, where Moira Goff, head of the British Section 1501-1800 gives her views on the copy.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/podmoiragoff.html

If you would like your Tyndale facsimile Bible rebound in the style shown then please contact us for an order form. The cost of covering your facsimile Tyndale Bible is £150.00 plus P&P £5.00.

You can purchase a facsimile Tyndale Bible from the following suppliers:

Amazon

Albris

Abebooks

The British Library

What will we do with this generic publishers cloth binding? Watch this space and find out the final results!

The old Publisher's cloth case was removed. The original sewing and endpapers were preserved. Three wide bands (ridges) were added to the spine. 

Both front and back board had the appropriate title as requested by our client.

The cover was done in the TYNDALE design using dark brown (chocolate brown) Oasis goatskin leather. The cover was in the LIMP or soft style of cover, but could have been done in any other style.

 The edges were coloured in ANTIQUE BROWN/YELLOW OCHRE. New coloured endbands were attached to the head and tail of the spine along with two 7mm wide double polyester satin ribbons.

Cost of covering your new or nearly new Biblis Hebraica are as follows:

Basic Limp - £95.00 

Basic Hardboard - £101.00 

plus £10.00 for design style (Tyndale, Olivetan etc.)

plus £10.00 for coloured edges

plus £7.00 P&P

contact us to obtain a quotation