Mom’s Bible.
When Francis Carlin passed away several years ago, she left behind an invaluable heirloom—her Bible. Michael, one of Francis’ three children, stumbled across this family treasure when he was cleaning out his mother’s home. Upon seeing the Bible, Michael’s earliest memories suddenly flooded back. “I’m sixty-six now and I remember her having it when I was five or six years old.” With those fond memories, Michael took the Bible home and stored it in a safe place.
What memories did this Bible trigger to make Michael keep it? His mother’s daily routine. “I can picture her sitting at the table, drinking her coffee, reading her Bible.” Such devotion left an indelible mark on Francis’s watching son. “I would think it had a pretty big impact, even though I certainly didn’t realize it at the time. She used it everyday.” The thing that most impresses Michael now, looking back on those early mornings at the table, is his mother’s faith. “Man, it’s amazing to have faith that way. I don’t think everybody has it like that.”
Held together by a rubber band, Michael has been afraid to let others open and read his mother’s Bible the past several years. But he also hates the thought of it collecting dust in storage. “I want it to be used. But I’m scared to have anybody mess with it as it is right now. And I can’t let it sit there and diminish” That’s why he immediately began the process when his grandson told him about our Bible Restoration Service. “I certainly want to take care of [the Bible]. So I said ‘This is definitely worth fixing.’”
Now that the Bible is restored, Michael looks forward to sharing this special heirloom with loved ones. He plans on setting it out in his living room where family members can read it and enjoy memories of their beloved mother and grandmother. “I think when they see it, they’ll certainly think about her. Everybody loved her so I think it will be a focal point at times.” He even looks forward to surprising some with the Bible’s dramatic transformation. “Different parts of the family might look at it and say ‘Remember Mom’s old Bible?’ And I’ll say ‘That’s it. It’s got new life.’”
BIBLE REPAIR NEEDS
For Mike’s Bible there were three main elements we needed to repair: (1) The Bible’s cover needed to be replaced; (2) the Bible’s maps needed to be reattached; (3) and the Bible’s spine needed to be reinforced. We also added several new ribbons to complete the restoration.
BIBLE REPAIR PROCESS
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Though it featured a beautiful inscription of ‘Holy Bible’, the cover on Francis’ Bible was completely detached, held together by a rubber band. We removed the cover and replaced it with a new one in our c1663 leather, featuring a closure strap and name engraving.
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Several pages in the back of the Bible had begun to fall out and needed to be reinserted. Our team used a hinging method to attach these loose pages back into the Bible’s text block.
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The spine of Mrs. Carlin’s Bible had deteriorated significantly, as we’d expect with a sixty-year-old Bible. We removed the original glue and reapplied a new mull, giving the Bible’s spine a major upgrade. Michael’s family can now enjoy reading the Bible without fear of it falling apart.
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Michael requested that we remove the original ribbon marker and insert two new ones. These green ribbons were an excellent accent to the c1663 leather color Michael chose.
Ready to Restore Your Bible?
We were honored to restore Michael’s mother’s Bible. We would be honored to restore your Bible next.