Katarina Kelsey Book Conservation
I am a book conservator and bookbinder working in North London.
I offer a variety of book and paper conservation and restoration solutions, from board reattachment, new leather or cloth spines to a complete re-binding. I specialise in minimal interventions that maintain the integrity and original materials of the book I am working with.
I trained in Book Conservation and Book Arts at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. I began my binding career at London Bookbinding and Rooks Books and I have worked as a conservator at the Linnean Society of London, Central Saint Martins Library, the British Library, Norwich Cathedral Library and the Arts Council's poetry collection at The National Poetry Library in London.
I have been in private practice for nine years and undertake restoration for private libraries, collections and antiquarian booksellers. Notable restoration projects include the sketchbooks of G.K. Chesterton and Alexander McQueen, as wellas an early treatise on witchcraft by James I.
Please email me for further information or quotes at [email protected] or call me on 07792885611.
'Bob the Terrier or Memoirs of a Dog of Knowledge', 1801.
A 'memoir' written from the perspective of a terrier. Both boards were reattached using hand dyed kozo paper and the spine reinforced with 100% cotton rag paper. Missing leather sections were filled in with hand dyed kozo paper.
The first image shows the partially detached front board and the second image the detaching and broken spine before restoration.
The final two images show the boards and spine reattached, with misssing leather filled in with dyed kozo paper. The corners of the boards have been reinforces and re-covered with dyed kozo.
Before
After
'Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management', 1861
A first edition publication with original binding. The spine was completely split down the middle and wast reattached using a 100% cotton rag hollow and restored using hand dyed kozo. Internal hinges were restored as were small tears throughout from usage.
Before
After
'The Owl & The Pussycat' by Edward Lear, 1889.
A commemorative publication after the death of Edward Lear. The textblock was re-sewn and the boards reattached with corner consolidation. The cloth spine was restored using hand dyed kozo-shi.
Before
After
Book of Common Prayer, 1609.
A family Bible, printed 1609 and bound in 1688. Rebound some time in the late 1800s/early 1900s, where it most likely was only given a new spine as the boards and leather are original to the period.
A sturdy, well worn book with an almanack in the front and the original owners' births, deaths and marriages written in the first free pages.
As well as being re-bound, a more recent owner has reattached the title page with sellotape. As you can see, the title page was heavily creased by the weight of its previous repairs.
I kept their repair paper in, but removed the sellotape and used a hinge paper of 28gsm to act as an intermediary between the very light 1609 paper and the more modern, heavier 19th/20th century repair.
The corners were consolidated and the boards reattached, with hand dyed kozo restoration to the leatherwork.
Before
After
'The Present State of the Arts in England' by M. Rouquet, 1755.
A tree calf, eighteenth century leather binding. Both boards were reattached using hand dyed Kozo paper to the exterior and interior hinges.
The first image shows the board completely detached. The following two images are of the boards reattached after restoration.
Before
After
Siddur, 1927.
I had the privilege to undertake a creative restoration on this book, giving it a new spine and corners in aged leather, leather endbands and leather inlays of the owner's initials on the spine.
For further information on what you can expect from a qualified conservator, please see ICON's website here