About
Madeline Lambelet is a book restorer working in the Catskills, NY. She was bench trained in Philadelphia, PA before opening her own restoration studio. In addition to her work in private restoration studios, she has worked in the Conservation Department of the Historical Society of Philadelphia. She was Co-Exhibition Coordinator for the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers before leaving Philadelphia to move to New York.
Services & Pricing
Below is a list of estimated prices for various services offered. Pricing can vary based on size, material, state of the book, how the book has been stored, if it has been repaired before, even what glues were used to originally bind the book.
Please use this as a starting point instead of a definitive guide. This is by no means a complete list of services offered.
***Please note: I live in a rural area with unreliable phone service. The ONLY way to contact me is through email or an introductory text with your email address included. I cannot stress enough that phone calls do not show on my phone and voicemails will appear weeks later if at all. I will NOT know that you have been trying to contact me via phone. I try to be clear and upfront about this, please do not try to contact me this way and then get upset when you cannot get a hold of me***
Rebacks/Recasing:
Leather Reback: Starting at $340
Cloth Reback: Starting at $295
Recasing: Starting at $220
New Bindings:
New Leather Binding: Starting at $400
New Cloth Binding: Starting at $310
Special Services:
Family Bibles: Starting at $725 (includes: leather reback, new end papers, minor paper repairs, new hinges, new hollow tube, new headbands)
Personal Bibles: Starting at $485 (includes: new goatskin leather binding, new end papers, "Holy Bible" gold stamped on spine, blind tooled lines on spine, name or family name gold stamped on bottom right corner of front cover)
Archival Protection Boxes:
Clamshell box: Starting at $260
Slipcase: Starting at $235
Miscellaneous:
Color restoration: $40/hour
Paper repair: $7/page
Text block sewing: $35/hour
Contact
Please read before contacting for an estimate:
Review the prices listed below before reaching out. I can offer flexibility in payment structure but cannot offer discounts or lower my prices
My studio is in a private space so I am only accepting shipped in jobs at this time. I am happy to guide you through how to package and ship safely if needed.
Please note that my studio hours are Monday-Friday 9 am - 5 pm & occasionally Saturday 9am -12 pm. If you have not received a response within 48 hours feel free to reach out again but please do so respectfully.
Testimonials
“I would like to take a moment to publicly thank Madeline for the spectacular job she did on my project. As soon as I walked through the door of her business, I knew I had come to the right place. I was as though I had walked back in time, to witness the old-fashioned craftsmanship and the dying art of bookbinding. My project was very unique, as I wanted to take very old pictures and documents and put them into an old, worn leather ledger book. I wanted something that looked like it had been passed down from one generation to the next over the last 250 years. She exceeded my expectations and the finished project looks like an heirloom treasure!!! I truly recommend her business! Her talent is a gift!””
“Over the course of the past year, it has been an honor and privilege on my part to work with Madeline. Her enthusiasm is infectious and no small detail ever escapes her genuine love for books and the book as art. Anything that she creates or restores, be it a clamshell box or a family’s trusty heirloom Bible, truly exudes an excellence of craftsmanship and devotion to detail that is unparalleled in every respect. Her work is excellent, long-lasting, well-crafted and beautiful to the eye. I truly appreciate her love for the book, both as object and art, and as a collector I would never again entrust any of my books to any other artist other than her. Her passion for her work and her creative spirit serve as an outstanding example of the infinite possibilities of the artistic mind and the single-minded beauty of the art of the book. As a true collector and lover of the book arts, I can imagine no one else more enjoyable to work with creatively than Madeline. She brings your book projects to life, be they simple or complex, in a manner that stands as a testament to quality, attention to detail, and a creative psyche that is truly passionate about the art of the book. You will never be disappointed in any fashion to entrust any of your creative projects to Madeline. She is truly one of a kind.
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