When to have a rare or antique book restored?
A question often asked by book collectors and book collecting novices alike is: "At what juncture should an antique or rare book, which has seen better days be restored".
To answer this question there are several factors that should be considered. The first consideration should be the condition of the book in question; the standard terms for condition are normally: Reading Copy, Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and Excellent or As New, respectively. From my own experience those books that are classed as fair and below should be considered for restoration.
The second consideration would be that of value. A relatively inexpensive antique or rare book that would have a value, if in good condition or better, of £30.00 is not going to warrant having £70.00 spent on it being traditionally restored to its former glory only to be worth less than the money spent on it.
The third consideration would be restoration or rebinding. The subtle difference between the two is that restoration will aim to keep the book as near as it possibly can to its original specification using as much of the original book and covers as possible. This will detract in value against an un-restored book in the same condition (as the one that has been restored).
The situation that you should ideally be aiming for is the restored book should be of more value when compared against an un-restored book of lower but nonetheless good or better condition.
Lastly complete rebinding should be quite fittingly the last option as this will obviously be of lesser value compared to a restored or original book. An example of when rebinding is a viable option: The author Arthur Conan Doyle, a particular favorite of mine, had his first work published in 1887, the title of the book was “A Study In Scarlet”, it was actually published within the 28th Beeton’s Christmas Annual. Now this little piece of literary history if in good condition and in its original state would cost in the region of £50,000. Now if you were blessed with a bit of luck and came across a copy which was in a sorry state then you will be glad to know, a rebound copy would cost in the region of £20,000. Obviously the question would be should you leave well alone, restore or rebind. The answer is simply this: You should compare what you will get for the book in its original state against what you would get for it in a restored state against what you would get if it was rebound.