posted on May 4, 2002 10:52:44 PM
Hi...I've got a really old Family Bible (dates from the mid-1800's) that's in really horrible condition BUT has over 900 nifty engravings/prints. Some are Dore, others Dupuy and still others assorted artists. What's the best way to extract these prints from the book? Exacto knife? Gently ripping away the already-poor condition binding? Naturally, I want to do this as carefully as possible to perserve the good condition of the prints. As a "book" person, it PAINS me to "tear up" a book...but, in its present condition, it really is worthless. Thanks for any help and advice from the experts out there!
posted on May 4, 2002 11:02:53 PM
I've done it by unbinding the book. The more margin you can leave around the prints, the better. Let the buyer do the triming to their satisfaction.
I wouldn't leave rough or ragged edges. Even though the buyer could trim them, it makes for poor presentation on the auction page.
posted on May 5, 2002 11:44:07 AM
Thanks, REAMOND...This was my thinking as well but I hesitated to take any action until hearing from folks who'd had the same situation.
