GRIFFIN BOOKBINDING

 

a Traditional Hand Bindery

Summer 2013 Newsletter
 
 
 

 

Bookbinder restores history in his St. Petersburg shop

By Katherine Snow Smith, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, December 12, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG

When Rita Dara walked into Griffin Bookbinding on Central Avenue, she was pretty sure it was worth the drive from Palm Harbor. When she met owner David Barry she was positive.

She had finally found the right place to restore her 1800s King James Bible.

"He cares for his work deeply. You can see that in how he handles the books," she said. "I bought a Bible from an antique store and the spine was separate from the pages. It needed a lot of work."

Now the leather is polished and the book is strongly intact, yet it doesn't look new or like it has been restored, she said. Though the antique dealer suggested she just use some Super Glue on the spine, Dara is glad she called around to bookstores and heard about Barry.

"This is something I've done since I was 16," said Barry, who started at that age as an apprentice in his native Wales. "Since I've been in my store I'm getting a lot more local customers."

Before moving in September to 7212 Central Ave., (727) 254-7962, he practiced his craft at Salt Creek Artworks. Most of his business is from fine-book dealers around the country, but one local customer is the Tampa Bay History Center in Tampa.

Barry, 48, is working on approximately 50 maps, some of them 500 years old, on loan from a private collection for an exhibition titled "Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 years of Florida Maps." It opens in September to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's naming of Florida. Barry is repairing tears, removing tape, patching holes with rice paper and removing mold.

"If you overtreat a map, it looks almost too new and you can actually damage it," said Rodney Kite-Powell, curator of history at the Tampa Bay History Center. "He's got a good touch. He's got all kinds of tools and the expertise to know what to do and what not to do."

Barry is one of only a handful of experts in map restoration in Florida and the only one the museum works with, Kite-Powell said. He recently met Barry at an antiquarian book fair.

"It was one of our best finds," he said.

Whether a map, document or book, a major part of most projects is deacidifying the paper. The acid in certain papers causes them to turn yellow and brittle.

"Removing it can't erase the damage done so far, but it can slow the rate of decay," Barry said.

Deacidification charges start at $35 a page while binding starts at $65. Renewal or replacement of the leather or other covering material on the spine or joints of a book starts at $95. These are general prices, but since each project is unique, costs are, too.

If a book is too costly or damaged for a customer to repair, Barry can make a clamshell that holds the book inside more like a box, yet has a spine and resembles a book when it's on a shelf. He has made custom clamshells to store and showcase newspaper articles, documents, pictures and Broadway playbills.

Clamshells made of book cloth cost $120 and up while leather versions are $145 and up.

About 65 percent of Barry's work is restoration of rare antiquarian books from online clients and longtime collectors (griffinbookbinding.com). But he's glad business and foot traffic are up now that he has a storefront.

"I'm getting at least one large family Bible a month now," he said. "They are very interesting because they were the only source of record keeping for a long time. All the family records such as births, marriages and deaths were entered into the Bibles."

Katherine Snow Smith can be reached at kssmith@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8785 or

 

[Last modified: Dec 11, 2012 05:14 PM]

Copyright 2012 Tampa Bay Times


 
 
 
 
 
 
Billie Noakes                                                Freelance copywriter: Words that Work          
                                                                                                                               

The Past, Refurbished

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Billie Noakes

The last time I visited my sister, we went through a box that had been stashed in her storage shed for years.

Talk about a time capsule! For a couple of hours, we felt like we were on an archaeological dig, delighting in the discovery of cards, photos, and keepsakes that had belonged to our maternal grandparents.

It was good to see so much family history, sad to see the shape it was in after 45 years of being shuffled from Illinois, to Florida, to Kentucky, and back to Florida. Forty-five years of being top, then bottom, of the heap. Forty-five years of dust and bugs and mice and poorly weatherproofed attics and sheds.

So when we got to one of the last items, we weren’t surprised to see the shape this one old book was in, pages darkened with mildew, leather cover in tatters, disconnected from the pages it was designed to protect.

Lutheran Church Book. 1901. Grandpa’s name all but buried under 109 years of dirt and grime and neglect. Grandpa would have been 13 years old in 1901, so we’re guessing it was given to him for his confirmation in the Lutheran Church.


Gads, but it looked rough.

Tracie let me bring this relic home, and I called Mike Slicker’s Lighthouse Books. Mike is my go-to resource for all things old-bookish. Mike’s daughter referred me to Griffin Bookbinding, and David Barry.

I was much encouraged by the way David examined it but I expected the man to tell me the book was too badly damaged for any meaningful restoration.

Not so! He said he’d have it back to me in four weeks, at a price that didn’t make me want to die.

He called me two weeks later and said it was ready.

Ready? It was beautiful:

I hadn’t realized the pages were gilt-edged. David restitched the pages to the cover, restored the leather, revealed some beautiful tooled engraving, and lo! Grandpa’s name had been printed in gold leaf, not simply pressed into the leather. David even made pages whole that had been eaten away by time and the occasional hungry vermin.

I’m going to debut the book this Sunday, at the Lutheran Church in Starke, when I go back to show my sister David’s wonderful handiwork.

What a treasure!

Hugs and laughter,

Billie


 
 
 




David Barry recently bound two editions of a miniature book, on American Woodcut Artist J.J. Lankes, in collaboration with the
University of Tampa Book Arts Studio.

 
 
Watch our interview with St Pete Extra! from the 2009 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.
(advance to 20:50 for start of interview)


 
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

CONTACT:
David H. Barry
GRIFFIN BOOKBINDING
a griffin ventures llc company
727.254.7962

Email:  info@griffinbookbinding.com   

Griffin Bookbinding announces new studio now open in Downtown St Petersburg, Florida.

St Petersburg, Florida, April 16, 2007 – Griffin Bookbinding has completed the setup of its new studio and is now open for business. Our new studio is located in the Salt Creek Artworks building at 1600 4th Street South Studio 35 St Petersburg, Fl 33701.


For additional information on our services, please contact us at 727.254.7962 or visit www.griffinbookbinding.com.



ABOUT GRIFFIN BOOKBINDING – David H. Barry was formally educated in the United Kingdom and worked for a hand bindery in Wales where he remained until 1993 at which time he was given the fortunate opportunity to immigrate to the United States and open his own studio. For 25 years Griffin Bookbinding has been offering fine hand bookbinding and restoration services to book dealers, collectors, libraries and publishers.

 Our services include:

Fine Hand Bookbinding
Restoration
   Rebinding
   Family Bibles Restored

 Designer Bindings   
Deacidification of Books, Documents & Prints
 
Slip Cases   
Clamshell Boxes
Phase Boxes   
Mylar Encapsulation
Custom Menu Covers

- END -


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