However, since restoration is secondary to the object, its connection with the art and crafts that gave birth to the object is inseparable. In the field of book restoration, this is an inseparable connection with manuscript and printing techniques on paper and with bookbinding. And if no one requires a paper restorer to be able to cast paper by hand and print, for example, a print, then for a bookbinding restorer, the ability to bind books in their historical designs and work with original and replacing them binding materials: wood, leather, fabric and others will be mandatory. Thus, an artist-restorer of a bookbinding is not only an artist, a restorer, but also a bookbinder.
Historically, the formation of restorers took place in this way – from the sphere of bookbinders, a part of the craftsmen emerged who began to repair or restore old books. And they achieved mastery in this business. However, in my practice, I have encountered only one work done in the past according to modern restoration standards: reversibility of materials, work with historical structures, etc. It was a block of the 18th century, which someone in 1831 (there was a binding date on the endpaper) re-sewed, glued and framed in a new leather binding. The stitching and gluing of the block along the spine were done so delicately that I easily cleaned the block from the glue, removed the cords and disassembled the book into notebooks. Thank you, anonymous master of the 19th century – you were the only one who thought about how to make it easy for the next master to work with the book. However, historically, bookbinding technologies were usually made according to a template that never met the requirements applicable to restoration. Therefore, when studying bookbinding in modern and historical designs, it is necessary to remember that the artist-restorer does not recreate the original state, but adapts the existing state of the book to modern conservation-restoration requirements.
