Book rebinding

This might be done to improve their appearance by rebinding in a more fashionable colour or to assert ownership by having the book rebound in uniform covers which were stamped with an insignia such as a coat of arms.

For example, when he acquired a medieval psalter of 1457, which was bound in pigskin on wooden boards, he had it rebound in mauve velvet over cardboard.

[1] The four-volume copy of Audubon's Birds of America held in the Royal Collection was rebound in 2011 by conservators at Windsor Castle.

The volumes are especially large and heavy, being printed on double elephant paper of about 50 by 28 inches, and weighing over 50 pounds.

The plates, which were published loose, had been originally bound by the royal bookbinder, James Mackenzie, around 1840.