The Bowyer Bible
The restoration work was carried out by Nic Rayner at Greater Manchester County Record Office. The project included all 45 volumes and the large oak cabinet which had suffered from the effects of age and dust.
The volumes required new head and tail pieces, called "caps" on the spines and many corners had become bent and scuffed. A particular challenge in the conservation of antique books is that some of the materials that they are made from can actually contribute to their deterioration.
This series of images shows how the corners of each volume of the Bible were rebuilt.
Luckily this was not a major concern. Though the ink from some of the engravings was found to be slightly acidic it was decided that the solution of inserting acid free paper in front of these would increase the volume sizes so much that they would not fit back into the cabinet. In any case the acidity would not be strong enough to cause problems with the text itself.
The majority of the work on the volumes involved slitting the original bindings at the corners of each book and at the edges of the spine and rebuilding them. Once the volumes were repaired the leather was treated for scruff marks and polished and dressed then the gold leaf was re-embellished.
The cabinet conveniently separates into three parts making access to hard to reach areas and transport much easier.
Gold tooled strips were sourced to replace the original leather trim at the top of each shelf. A hard-wearing velvet was used to match and replace the existing but very worn lining inside the case.
Finally the cabinet was reassembled: the doors were replaced and locked with an environmental monitor inside to check the storage conditions for the Bible were not too dry or too humid.
To finish the cabinet was covered in Beeswax to nourish the wood and then buffed and polished. The cleaning, polishing, repair and refurbishment of the cloth and leather interior has transformed the cabinet. The re-cushioning of the fabric interior will help maintain the volumes in the best possible condition.
When not on display the Bible and cabinet will from now on be stored in an environmentally monitored space to protect it from further harm by humidity and temperature variations.
An example of some damage to the cabinet.
