How 100-Year-Old Books Are Professionally Restored | Restoration

The delicate and intricate restoration process of a very old book. Watch this ASMR restoration video of a true artisan at work with decades of experience.
Artisan: www.rooksbooks.com/

[@mariom7949]

I tried to emulate this master, but as soon as I applied glue, my Kindle stopped working.

[@cerishreve9918]

😂😂😂

[@will-i-am-not]

🙄🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱

[@trexvalleygirl2770]

😂🤣

[@fatbackfitz]

Your kindle must be defective. I bound mine this way and I’m sure it’s as good as the day I shelved it!

[@grooving2music]

Brilliant

[@meowwl]

Another restoration that isn't a restoration, but a renovation. Restoration would be restoring it to it's original appearance. That said, I firmly believe that anything that puts a book back into readable condition is a good thing!

[@johnleake5657]

I don't think it's either, though: it's a rebinding.

[@superslammer]

I'm not fond of the cover. But the craftsmanship is pretty good.

[@tigergaj]

*lips blubbering*

[@amitexo]

I am not a fan of the cover style but the whole process is simply amazing, bookbinding is such a fascinating art!

[@Estherfay]

These comments are very interesting, even though I am not an expert, I do know the difference between a demonstration and a tutorial. Personally I loved this.

[@soulcatch]

Our artisan treats it gently, immediately begins hitting it with a hammer. LOL. Love this video.

[@nbsoboleski]

Haha, yes, I thought that was funny timing too -- just as narrator says that the 🔨 hammer comes out, whack! But, even hammers can be gentle.

[@jaydee9124]

The skill of the book binder is amazing.

[@treeleaf7808]

You can tell this man really knows what he's doing. The level of attention to detail is impressive!

[@federicoprice2687]

Very interesting. Thank you. I can't say I'm enamoured with the covers, and if it were my volume I'd have preferred a simple plain look. But I imagine the customer / owner had the last word!

[@JesseDanielle]

I really appreciate the comments that give credit and honor to the work, even if the style is not necessarily their taste.

[@borge2014]

Interesting restoration process, surprising final design aesthetics , was not expecting a wizard book.

[@iteerrex8166]

Since the pages were not fixable, he gave the cover that look to match it. I guess.

[@melissamcfarlin6840]

I was thinking it looks like it belongs in the library at Hogwarts.

[@jmssun]

7:07 “The repair worker then uses a conservation grade scissor and carefully makes a cut that can later be reversed by future conservators”

[@random_dragon]

Lmao, I saw this comment before that part of the video, and almost thought it was real 😂

[@katarzynapawowska9601]

I read it with Julian's voice 😂

[@LeesaDeAndrea]

The amount of work involved was quite surprising. So many different steps in the process and so much glue! I do wonder what the thought was in picking that rather odd cover. A very interesting process even so.

[@nbsoboleski]

Bookbinding --- at any level, any type of stich --- is super time consuming. I learned the basics in art school, but rarely actually make new books. Why? Because I can't decide which intensive route to go. Lol.

[@dlebreton7888]

Those who make rude comments here, shame. This video allows you to witness the careful restoring of a very old book so that it can last another hundred years or more and you are only interested in bullying the whole process. You are missing the point of the informative information. It is very relaxing and I hope this craft never fades.

[@the-red-ghost]

I agree

[@even1313]

The book can't be that old, or valuable, if he is touching it bare handed. Skin oils would destroy the paper.

[@drucker03]

​@@even1313 It must be valuable enough to justify this expensive treatment.

[@even1313]

@@drucker03 Yeah, they're making a lot of money from youtube views and ads.

[@drucker03]

​@@even1313 I think most people overestimate what you can earn with such a video.

[@SalaziNazz]

This book restoration video is like a mesmerizing art show! 📚🎨

[@kylahill1968]

Im worried his scissors arent big enough to handle the task of cutting those threads.

[@JasperJanssen]

Those weren’t scissors, they were shears.

[@rebelbelle62]

I found this whole video so interesting. I was enthralled from beginning until the end. Thank you so much.

[@Crustdaddii]

I could watch someone do this for hours

[@albaprifti5601]

Hello I'm watching you from Tirana Albania 🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱,I do the same work as you,I work in restaurtion of books since 1985,till now, want to thank you for sharing this video and for your time

[@staceynicole8978]

This is fascinating. I am incredibly impressed and fascinated with the process!

[@leisongivangomo4478]

Wonderful craftsmanship! I enjoyed watching

[@DavidDavis-fishing]

Gooood morning from central Florida! Hope everyone has a great day!

[@tailsdblack463]

Good evening from northwest central Alberta Canada hope you get yourself some good rest down there.

[@gwenmartinsen3979]

I've always wanted to do this. But wow, it must take years to perfect. Beautiful job Mr. Artisan.

[@vivsalittlebitcrafty4854]

What a fabulous skill to have. Every moment of this video was wonderful. I didn't realize so much went into the restoration of a book.

[@jeffreycrawley1216]

Not sure I liked the sculptured edges or the tear effect on the faces but the quality of the workmanship cannot be denied. One thing that stood out for me was the "wastage" of the covering leather - amateurs like me would save every inch, a professional doesn't have to bother!

[@hosseinrahmani1163]

A job well done Real craftsmanship must be preserved And passed to the next generation

[@seaknightvirchow8131]

As a book lover, this was fascinating to me.

[@LynnWithoutAnE]

You Sir are an artist!

[@lynettemayhew1723]

Fascinating process, beautiful craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing this with us 👍from California.

[@l0nely_snake]

I always loved bookbinding, I tried it a couple times making small notebooks for myself, if I had more materials I would love to be able to master this ability like this professional!! I love his work, he makes the whole process with such grace and expertise he makes it look so easy

[@399roses]

The rebonding was carefully and well done, but the final look was awful, I don't think they did the book justice. Looks like a Disney land wizard book

[@user-qv9oo2co7t]

Totally agree, beautiful craftsmanship, shitty aesthetics.

[@bricks2850]

Final appearance of the book almost certainly follows the book owners instructions - The customer is always right!

[@nrml76]

The binding and final look is entirely true to the era when the book was first published. If you visit any old European library, you will see row upon row of books in this style. Where do you think Disney got his his inspiration from? He just bastardised old European tales.

[@JasperJanssen]

@@nrml76well, no, not really. This is a 100 year old book by the title, meaning early 20th, and the binding style is more 17th to 18th century. That said the pages looked more mid 19th than early 20th.

[@geoffrey6000]

Preserving history in the best way possible.

[@texasoutlook60]

Absolutely marvelous!! Thanks for sharing!

[@LibrariansWife]

This is what I’d call unintentional ASMR 🤤

[@melodymacken9788]

Fascinating and brilliant to watch.

[@larrykelly2838]

Truly a very interesting process.

[@PietScheffer]

No doubt in my mind that this is a skilled craftsman judging by the skills and special tools he has at his disposal, which leads me to believe that this is not a valuable book and that the customer dictated the end result and perhaps it was intendet to look like something from a Harry P. movie.....but we will never really know.

[@durangodave]

i dont understand why the huge scissors or the feather on a pen.

this is not a restoration video. So the elements have nothing to do with a real restoration process.

[@kekipark77]

fascinating indeed. how long did the process take? and whats the name of the book?

[@dangeo9613]

Very good video to learn some details. Thank you!

[@calvinbass1839]

A labor of love to be sure. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.l

[@VinayDipikar]

Commendable efforts to revive the historic literatures

[@Tinatortoise]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching that but would of loved to have had more explained.

[@robertmann7277]

GREAT JOB, I Wished this video was around in the 80's when I tried to restore a Stephen King paperback ( well, at least the Elmer's Glue that I used is still holding up!!! )

[@seventhsun1]

Great job!

[@FloridaClay]

AA master craftsman indeed!

[@leonardoravecca606]

Bellissimo lavoro, il presente è vita.

[@robbylock1741]

Beautifully done! And to think books from the 1910's and early 1920's are over 100 years old! That leaves so many books to require such talents and work :)

[@pavelkoudele5526]

Pred 30 lety jsrm se vyučil knihařem. Rád vidím toto krásné remeslo. Jsem spokojený s vysledkem prace tohoto muže. 👍🙂 Pavel 🇨🇿

[@johnswarbrick2365]

There's always someone who will critcise from an armchair, and anyone can buy an expensive car and put it on the drive to impress the neighbours. Not for me - only skills and abilities that are beyond my experience impress me. My interests are related to wood, but there are many facets within that medium that are beyond my meagre skills such as fine marquetry and inlaying. Those are the kind of skills that impress me. Respect to this craftsman.

[@GianbattistMartin]

Bu gerçekten saygıyı hak eden bir işçilik. Saygı duydum, elinize sağlık.

[@markedis5902]

18:34. there are better ways to case leather. It should be moistened and then left overnight in a poly bag then brought out and left until the surface appears dry. Then apply the embossing and leave to dry completely. That way you get a far crisper result. It just takes a bit of planning. (Leatherworker of nearly 40 years)

[@johnpartridge7623]

Very interesting to watch 👍

[@nuassul]

Que impresionante restauración le hicieron a ese libro.

[@dwj77]

Part 2 is when you finish the cover?

[@dudusapir]

Nice job, but I was also expecting to see the cleanliness of the pages from all the stains.

[@c.h9976]

I was expecting the work would include some working on the damaged page edges. I guess that would either be very difficult or impossible but it does detract a bit from the fresh neat rebinding to see the ratty page edges.

[@maryannecross4220]

Awesome 👏👏👏👏🇬🇧

[@mrradio4944]

Im in awe of the skill shown by the bookbinder 😮 I have one question though, is the voice over done by an AI? I find the sentence structure and tones of the voice to be a bit unsettling at times, like an AI would do😅

[@sallyweiner4180]

Love this

[@DaleDix]

Fantastic.

[@Christine-db2hq]

Interesting choice for the cover I guess.. :|

[@zoramtharafanai4749]

I love this video .....❤

[@crashyburnymit4080]

What's the name of the book? And why would you blurr it?

[@albaprifti5601]

If may I ask you,why you don't touch inside the book,and what is the name of glue please

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

Truly interesting.

[@steve_weinrich]

I am wondering if, while the paragraphs were loose, they were scanned?

[@erinosterlind4062]

"Every stitch tells a story" but we're not going to tell you a dang thing about what we are doing or why

[@random_dragon]

LMAO EXACTLY

[@orkiestrapodwodna]

Czy treść zawarta w księdze jest warta takiej pracy i oprawy?

[@BellaB411]

I could totally spend the day doing this.. getting paid is just a bonus.

[@chitown1057]

A stitch in time saves nine

[@tigergaj]

What book was bro crafting? Is that the necronomicon??

[@ventura6988]

Hola, ojalá los subtítulos estuvieran activados, a día de hoy traducen bastante bien y me enteraría de todo pero bien video

[@jonelodosa502]

Por favor, activen los subtitulos. Gracias

[@luuuscarlet]

Cuales subtítulos? Están desactivados 😂

[@richardwebb2348]

Does the technique work on books that are not 100 years old?

[@random_dragon]

I think it's kinda misleading that the title says, "how this is restored," but doesn’t *actually* tell us how it's restored or what's going on

[@vaulthecreator]

A bit misleading alluding to this being a 100 year old book. It's clearly far older than that.

[@123Botini]

👍

[@miguelangelgpc5444]

wow

[@judygouchie9701]

👌📖

[@81cb750fss]

Nicest necronomicon on eBay

[@doriWyo]

I don't think they had spray bottles hundreds of years ago. Beautiful work.

[@federicoprice2687]

They used monks with bad hayfever who would sneeze out copious amounts of microdroplets of snot and moisture on demand.

[@drucker03]

I bet they had.

[@JasperJanssen]

Sure they did. Perfume is an old and venerable trade.

[@ohger1]

5 minutes after I was done I'd discover I had placed a packet of pages out of order..

[@broadsword310]

Is it really restoration when the restorer takes artistic liberties? Wouldn’t a true restoration process attempt to make the object as close to the original as possible?

[@bunkenator]

Yes, but 1. This is an archival restoration that is supposed to be reversible as mentioned near the beginning, and 2. If you could please share with us what the original binding looked like - thanks in advance

[@drucker03]

@@bunkenator I think he or she wouldn't be able to tell. In the past books were sold in raw sheets and every owner let them bind according to his personal taste. The same book could have many different bindings and very different books in one private or public library could have the same binding.

[@bunkenator]

@@drucker03 Thank you for the clarification. This is a trade i'd love to learn.

[@JasperJanssen]

There was no original, or at least not one shown in this video. Only a text block without a binding. (And it is indeed entirely possible that it was never properly bound. I am restoring a dictionary from 1821 - as practice rather than for any real reason - and that was clearly a loose text block that someone just glued a few pieces of scrap cardboard to (not even as big as the book block itself) rather than an actual book. And also the spine mostly and rear board was entirely missing. So yeah, after I restore the text block I will be making my own binding for it, in the style of early 19th C Dutch books, but I’m not gonna spend the world on it in time or money and I’m certainly not keeping the “original look”.)

[@_SurferGeek_]

Was expecting an actual restoration... one that would see those moldy and brown foxing stained pages cleaned and lain flat. The binding appears nicely done but much can be said for the choice of cover and board edge treatment but I suppose that was all up to the customer. Really should update the video description to be more accurate to the job done.

[@AshtonScorpius]

17:06 this jar is truly cursed

[@NeoLimp]

pudo haberlo escaneado primero

[@johnleake5657]

'...silicon impregnated...' No, _silicone_ impregnated.

[@KirbandtheOatmeals]

Transformed a book into a tome

[@chuckotto7021]

Interesting to watch, however it lacks instructional detail to raise it above being more than that.

[@friedmule5403]

Great video. Sorry, not to be pedantic, but this is not a restoration but a rebinding. :-)

[@The_Butler_Did_It]

Why go to the effort of blurring out the book title? It's not as if it is still in copyright.

[@Adityagupta-vd4jo]

Why don't type the book again? 😮

[@Trixtah]

I made it 6 min in but could not finish watching due to the overly quick cuts in the edit. It's incredibly frustrating that not one operation was showed to completion. The dude starts a stitch - suddenly he's somewhere completely different on the spine. Just let at least one task be completed in each sequence - no, we don't need to see every single stitch or whatever realtime, but seeing none completed at all is just confusing as well as frustrating.

[@geraldmiller5260]

Why no gloves? Would not the oils in bare hands leave a mark?

[@JasperJanssen]

Gloves are bad for books.

[@heptagrammar21]

The edges needed to be trimmed off .

[@user-nz4iy7lo3y]

italian paper, Irish thread ? None of that in England where the book was made ????????

[@leewriter4656]

Ok, I'm gonna be one of those negative KZbin commenters, but this is not a restoration. And when I saw 24:07, I was done and didn't even feel like finishing the video.

[@steiner554]

100 years? That's not that old. I have books that are that age and it's nothing special. Maybe because I'm in Europe?

[@belerophon5878]

the cover ruined it.

[@zoebell1535]

The repetitive music is painful.

[@bobbichamberland1607]

Nothing is clean there for doing such delicate important work. Even his apron looks moldy

[@drucker03]

You are invited to go there and thoroughly clean up.

[@bobbichamberland1607]

@@drucker03 You have no common sense. It's sad

[@drucker03]

@@bobbichamberland1607 You were wrong and you still are wrong. I think it's because you don't have a clue. That' a better reason to be sad.

[@LeesaDeAndrea]

I think it just is glue that got on the apron as he works. I had no idea that binding a book required so much glue!

[@bobbichamberland1607]

@@LeesaDeAndrea I see the glue but mold can grow on glue too. Thank you for your input