Chat with my neighbor about his grandfather's sketchbooks changed how I look at old bindings

Honestly, I was just helping my neighbor Bob clean out his attic last Saturday when he handed me this stack of his grandfather's sketchbooks from the 1940s. The paper was all yellowed and the spines were totally cracked, but Bob said he didn't care about them anymore. I told him I could reback them for like 15 bucks in materials, and he just shrugged. That got me thinking about how we treat old books as disposable objects, not as things with stories in the cover itself. His grandfather had drawn these detailed building plans for houses in our town that never got built, and now nobody will ever see them. Made me realize I focus too much on perfect aesthetics and not enough on saving the content for another 80 years. Anyone else ever feel like you're the only one who cares about keeping old junk readable?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanlee1mo ago

Bob's loss, future generations' gain. Sad how that usually works.

lindaowens1mo ago

Bob's loss, future generations' gain" - that line really hit me, @seanlee. I had to read it twice because it's so true but also so heartbreaking at the same time. It's wild how often people don't see the bigger picture until way after the fact.