Caring for Books
Storing Your Books
The simplest and most effective way to protect your special books is to store them in a custom-designed
acid-free box.
Our clamshell-style archival boxes (with a hinging lid) are designed for ease of access, allowing you to view your book without having to lift it out.
Storing your book in an archival box protects it from light, dust, and handling, all of which
contribute to deterioration.
Once in the box, books should be stored flat to prevent undue strain on the spine.
Custom Box
To order a custom archival box, provide us with the dimensions of your book: Length (mm) x Width (mm) x Depth (mm), and we will tailor a box to fit perfectly.
Storing your book in an archival box protects it from light, dust, and handling, all of which contribute to deterioration.
Once in the box, books should be stored flat to prevent undue strain on the spine.
Handling Your Books
When handling special books, it is best to wear gloves to protect the cover and pages from dirt and oils on your hands.
Repairing Your Books
If you decide you want to make repairs to your book, please consider that repairing a very old book may not increase its value and may actually devalue it.
The wear and tear of a book is considered and important part of a book’s history. A general rule is the more valuable, rare, or historically important a book is, the more the reason not to repair it, and leave it alone – instead, store in an acid free box.
To safely make repairs, we recommend consulting a professional conservator if your book is particularly old or rare. You can find a conservator here.
Otherwise, if you are dealing with less valuable and newer books we do sell a range of acid free tapes and adhesives for book repair that can useful.
To help you navigate the tapes here is a brief outline of some typical
book repair tapes:
Have Any Questions?
We are here to answer all of your queries