Of Perfect Bible Leathers and Corners

Well, things have changed again in the leather department.

Unfortunately, the beautiful colors of top-grain cowhide will now not be available, as the distributor has decided to discontinue them. We have only the in-stock colors of sky blue and mocha, until they run out. No one saw this coming, and these hides made great Bibles, but we must move on to other hunting grounds.

Leather supply for Bible rebinding is a moving target sometimes. There are very few places that supply leather for Bible binding anyway, and finding leather suitable for rebinding is an endless search. It has to do with having different needs than other industries, such as Bible publishing or upholstery, and a comparatively smaller market.

Most large Bible publishing houses with corner crimping machines need thin, flexible top grain leather or bonded leather in rolls, because that will fit in their machines and reduce waste. And bookbinders who mostly rebind hardcover books also like the thinner leathers; they fold easier.

But leather for Bible rebinding shouldn't be too thin. Our customers are already frustrated with bonded leather and the way it dissolves with use. And they mistakenly thought the genuine leather on their Bibles would last forever, only to find out it was the thin version (weight: 1 oz.) that would develop worn spots or even tears along the edges in just a few months. Some of our customers also have had problems with Bibles that were constructed with the edges of the corner crimping showing over the lining material. The sharp edges of the corners catch the pages of the Bible and tear them up. Here's a familiar picture of a factory-produced, crimped corner:

At Leonard's, we don't need to use the very thin top-grain pigskin because we don't use corner crimping machines. We also don't skive (pare) the leather down on a Bible so it can be folded. Instead, our corners are skillfully constructed so that they fold down gracefully over the corners without adding too much bulk. This keeps the corners durable but smooth, with nothing to catch on.

The furniture upholstery industry, by contrast, needs leather that is sturdy, but flexibility doesn't seem all that important. In fact, we see some thinner leathers made especially for the upholstery industry that have been backed with another material to add durability.

This is unacceptable to us -- the last thing we need is for extra added stiffness in a leather, just so it will last longer. Our customers want to be able to open their Bibles -- and to have them stay open.

So, our "perfect leather" would be in the range of 1.75 - 2.5 oz., but also good and flexible. Some of our leathers are somewhat less flexible but those make great covers for the very heavy study Bibles that need support for the weight. Perfect leather is not easy to find, but we will continue to seek it out. Our customers deserve it.

We still have plenty of really great burgundy sculptured Italian cowhide. The texture is primo! And for soft and flexible in a traditional black, we still love the glazed black pebble grain deerskin.

Blessings,
Eric

Leonard's Book Restoration Station
www.LeonardsBooks.com
Skilled bookbinding, restoration and repair services
P.O. Box 52***Burrows, IN 46916**U.S.A.
Phone: (574) 652-2151

What Do You Have in Burgundy?

From time to time, we're asked what we have in a certain color -- like ... Burgundy! :-)

Other times, a customer just says, "I want my Bible rebound in burgundy leather," but has no idea what the different leathers look like, and didn't know that we'd have more than one choice. (Kind of like asking for tomato sauce at one of those big super stores!)

Well, I understand! Being around Carroll County Indiana 4-H a lot has given me more than a passing familiarity with goats, sheep, hogs, cows, ... and even llamas, actually ... but until I began working with Eric in this business, I didn't know what their skins looked like under all that hair. (I still don't know what llama leather looks like.)

The fact is, we've now collected quite a few different options in burgundy, and I can tell you what they're like, but seeing the leathers and the grains may help a lot more. So let's do some comparisons. I'll show you some of these choices and you can decide for yourself what would be best for you.

First off, let me tell you we've just gotten in a shipment of very nice burgundy pigskin. Remember, "genuine leather" = pigskin on modern Bibles. So, if one or more of the following applies to you:

• If you want a good budget choice in genuine leather.
• If you just really don't want black or brown.
• If you believe burgundy is the new black in the realm of Bible covers
• If your original cover was a mission grain burgundy and you want it to look just like that
  

... then you'll like this leather. It has a semi-glossy mission grain texture and it's about the best we've seen. Yes, the linear texture is embossed into the leather, which hides irregularities and those visible pores unique to pigskin, that not everyone likes.

Here's a before picture of a burgundy Bible. It's nasty cardboard with an impressed grain.

Voilà! Here's an after picture of the same Bible, now covered in our nice burgundy pigskin. (It's a little hard to see the grain, but you can see how nice it looks.)

This leather is just the right size -- thicker than the "genuine leather" on many factory made Bibles, so it will last longer, but it's thinner than other pigskins and flexible so it won't be too stiff on your Bible. It's good for Bibles of all sizes.

Now, here's a pic so you can compare the grain on 4 burgundy hides. From the top left, clockwise, we have smooth grained lambskin, deep burgundy calfskin, mission grain pigskin, and sculptured Italian cowhide.

Here's another pic. These are three different colors of goatskin, none of them called "burgundy." From left to right, we have maroon and crimson Harmatan wild-grain goatskin, and deep red premium soft tanned goatskin.


And here are some more Bible pics:

Burgundy lamb. The picture's a little too bright, but this is good leather for a smaller, thinner Bible.



Deep burgundy calf. Better for average to large sized Bibles.



Itallian sculptured cowhide. (Also a little too bright, but you can see a good representation of the color on the previous pic.) This is better on medium to large Bibles -- soft, thick, and flexible.

Here's a crimson Harmatan goatskin Bible. The maroon is much darker. Harmatan goat is good for larger Bibles.

And here's the deep red soft-tanned premium goatskin. It's good for all sizes of Bibles and is very soft and flexible. (See our recent posts for information on this goatskin.)


Here's another choice in red (not technically burgundy, but close):

Red calfskin. See how flexible it is?


We also have an imitation leather (cloth with a leatherlike finish) in an antique burgundy. (Sorry, I don't have a pic of that.)

And one more idea -- hand-dyed leather. Here's a hand-dyed, antiqued deerskin Bible. Blind-stamping and tooling is a favorite technique on this kind of leather.



We can also hand-dye natural grain pigskin; rustic goatskin (as on our Poor Man's Geneva Bible style), rustic calfskin (American West style), or kangaroo (Outback style). This is what it burgundy looks like on calfskin:

And here it is on kangaroo:


There you have it! We can encase your Bible in burgundy in many different ways. What looks good to you? If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help you with your selection. Click here for a free price quote,

Or go straight here for detailed ordering information.

Grace and Peace,

Margie L. Haley, Administrative Assistant
Leonard's Book Restoration Station
(574) 652-2151
http://www.leonardsbooks.com/

New Leathers In -- Old Leathers Out

Hi!

It's been awhile since we've posted anything, but things are good here in Indiana -- no earthquakes or tsunamis, no record snowfalls, just a good blanket of snow that waters the fertile soil for the winter wheat crop.

And yes, we've gotten over the Christmas rush, but we still have plenty to do. Our theory is, every book or Bible that we do right is our best advertisement. And the Lord has blessed that approach.The news is, I've gotta get the website changed soon. We have several leathers not available anymore and other new leathers that you might want to hear about. Until I get the website changed, here's the scoop.

Not available anymore: bomber jacket lambskin. I know, that's all over the place. It was nice while it lasted. Another leather, aviator sheepskin, is just not meeting our standards. We are also not going to be able to get several of the pigskins anymore: notably, the teal, plum, and deep burgundy.

But here are some new things that we believe you'll really like::-)The first is a top-grain cowhide. I know, in other posts, we've mentioned that top-grain cowhide is the uppermost portion of a piece of older leather, and that we prefer using a full-grain younger leather. But these cowhides look very nice indeed. Each has a pleasant light pebble grain, is soft and supple, and should be good and long-lasting. The best part is they come in 25 different colors. No, not black or burgundy, but 25 other colors like peacock, ivy, mocha, bright red, yellow, and purple. We like the combination of the thickness (durability) and the softness (flexibility).


The second is that we have some good flexible calfskins in several more colors now. We have them in a thicker black, brown, navy, burgundy, and forest green. These have the same nice grain I called "rustic" on the website. (Someone asked me what "rustic" meant recently. The answer -- it's not slick-smooth!) These calfskins look and feel wonderful on a Bible. The grain is mostly a small pebbly grain.


One more bovine option: burgundy sculptured Italian calfskin. It only comes in burgundy, looks "pre-wrinkled" and is wonderfully thick and flexible. I know, we were just teasing about the nationality of leathers in our last post, but then this stuff came in, and it really is nice. (The picture looks lighter than it really is, but shows the texture.)


Now, about the deerskin. We have done lots of really nice deerskin Bibles lately. They are very soft and flexible, and many people are looking for that feel nowadays. But there's a color you may have seen, both on our website and on other sites, called "natural tan" that's really not what it seems to be. The pictures of "natural tan" are actually a leather that's been hand-dyed to a glossy medium brown. Natural unfinished deerskin has more of a matte finish and could be even an eggshell color. So if you like the pictures, you would want to order "natural grain deerskin, hand-dyed to a glossy medium brown finish."


We also have burgundy, brown, and gold, that we can leave as is if you like, without that hand-dyed glossy finish. Here's a pic of some natural brown deerskin Bibles:

That's the scoop for now. We'll try to post more often.

Blessings in Jesus,
Margie

www.LeonardsBooks.com
Skilled bookbinding, restoration and repair services
P.O. Box 52***Burrows, IN 46916**U.S.A.
Phone: (574) 652-2151

Just Use It!

The following is a recent daily devotional by Greg Laurie, Harvest Ministries, that we thought you'd appreciate. Our hope is that we can shore up your well-used Bible so it can continue to be active in your life, as you serve the living God.

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
--Psalm 119:11

A Bible that is falling apart is usually the sign of a life that isn't. I like to see beat-up, marked-up Bibles that are coming apart because that is a good sign.

I think there ought to be a Bible especially for preachers, which I have mentioned to some of the people who publish them. I have told them, "Make a preacher's Bible. Give it a steel binding."

After all, preachers really use the Bible. As we are speaking, we do things like shake it, hold it up, and point to it. Why do we do that, I don't really know.

But we believers shouldn't simply shake our Bibles or hold them up or point to them. We need to read God's Word and memorize it and hide it in our hearts.

It is good to carry a Bible in a purse or briefcase, but the best place to hide the Word of God is in our hearts. As the psalmist said, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).

Hide it in your heart. Know it. Then, when temptation comes, you can use God's Word to defend yourself. When opportunities come, you can use it to share the truth of the gospel with those who don't know Him.

Remember that God has given us His Word to both deflect and to attack and strike blows for His kingdom.

God promises that His Word will not return void. Whether a person believes it or they don't, it won't return void. It will prosper in the place where God sends it.

So use your Bible. Use it until it is falling apart!

Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie, PO Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514

www.LeonardsBooks.com
Skilled bookbinding, restoration and repair services
P.O. Box 52***Burrows, IN 46916**U.S.A.
Phone: (574) 652-2151