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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Can this missal be saved?
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Pancho
Shipmate
# 13533
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Posted
Recently I discovered to my horror that a rat or mouse had gotten into my room and chewed on one of my books which just happens to be an altar missal(!). The book is cloth-covered and hard-bound and the little rodent chewed along most of the right-hand edge of the top cover. Fortunately it left the rest of the book alone but the damage is obvious.
Does anyone have experience repairing liturgical books? Are there any do-it-yourself methods I can try or can anyone recommend a service in the U.S. that can repair it?
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“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’"
Posts: 1988 | From: Alta California | Registered: Mar 2008
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Jon in the Nati
Shipmate
# 15849
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Posted
Apparently some missals are tastier than others. Your rectory clearly needs a church cat, like mine who has been with me since before ordination.
An obvious option, if the damage is extensive, is to have the missal rebound in a whole new cover. This will be expensive but you could end up with a pretty cool item, if you want to.
Leonard's is a bookbinder I have worked with in the past; they rebound a breviary for me. Here is another company with a good reputation.
As to repairing it yourself, I'm not sure what your options are. You could try get a cover that would fit it and hide the damage.
Would you consider posting pictures, so that we can opine and laugh-to-keep-from-crying with you?
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Homer: Aww, this isn't about Jesus, is it?
Lovejoy: All things are about Jesus, Homer. Except this.
Posts: 773 | From: Region formerly known as the Biretta Belt | Registered: Aug 2010
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The Silent Acolyte
Shipmate
# 1158
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Posted
Does anybody in the congregation go to a university? Are they known to the staff of the school of theology's library? Depending on the congeniality of the folk there doing repairs and the personability of the person doing the asking, it could well be possible for you to get help in that direction.
I once sought advice in the repair of the binding of my well-worn Greek-English New Testament. Where to purchase the supplies, how to go about the repair. The gentle and charming woman (Faith is her name) took the book from my hands and asked me if I could do without for a couple of days.
It was soon repaired so that I could haul it around from Hell and Gone again. That was a few years ago. I'm thinking I may return soon to see if she would now mend the edges of the boards for me.
Posts: 7462 | From: The New World | Registered: Aug 2001
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Fr Weber
Shipmate
# 13472
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Posted
Pancho, if you're in the Bay Area then Pettingell Book Bindery in Berkeley can help you. We had a 1950s-vintage missal which saw a lot of use and needed to be rebound; they replaced the boards and rebound it in a nice red buckram that was nearly the same color as the original. Replaced some tabs and repaired some torn pages, as well--I think it cost around $80 total.
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"The Eucharist is not a play, and you're not Jesus."
--Sr Theresa Koernke, IHM
Posts: 2512 | From: Oakland, CA | Registered: Feb 2008
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Pancho
Shipmate
# 13533
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Posted
Thank you to those who replied on the thread and in private message. I really appreciate it. I'm going to look into the different recommendations people sent me which have received the Eccles Seal of Approval™. In the mean time I'll cover the damage with some book tape and a book cover to keep it from fraying until I get the book repaired/rebound.
Ironically, I have a book or two somewhere on book binding from the time when I was thinking of taking it up as a hobby. I wish I'd taken it up now!
quote:
Originally posted by Jon in the Nati:
Would you consider posting pictures, so that we can opine and laugh-to-keep-from-crying with you?
Unfortunately I don't have a way of uploading pictures right now but it's this Spanish missal. Most of the the edge on the right of the cover is chewed and frayed.
quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
Does anybody in the congregation go to a university? Are they known to the staff of the school of theology's library? Depending on the congeniality of the folk there doing repairs and the personability of the person doing the asking, it could well be possible for you to get help in that direction.
I used to have contacts at the local public library and for a while even at the university one but not any more.
I'm amused that it looks like some assumed I'm a clergyman but no, I'm just a layman with a nerdy interest in all things liturgical. Nerdy enough to own an altar missal or two. Doesn't everybody have an altar missal at home?
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“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’"
Posts: 1988 | From: Alta California | Registered: Mar 2008
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