A Rebind from Rex Rebinds
The world of rebinding is an exciting place to be right now! Many new rebinders are coming on the scene and the quality of work just keeps getting better and better. I had especially been admiring the work of ET Peterson with Rex Rebinds so I reached out to get a rebind so I could see it up close and personal.
I will say up front that Rex is new on the rebinding scene, but the work is fantastic and just seems to be getting better and better. The LSB ICR is everything I could hope for in a Bible so I thought it deserved the most premium treatment. I sent a faux leather version to Peterson and what he sent back is nothing less than spectacular!
I had an idea of what I wanted when sending this thing to Rex, but he put some of his own flavor in it and I love the result! My favorite leather type for a rebind is the Badlassi Carlo and one color stands out to me above all the others—golden yellow. That’s the leather I asked him to use and it feels perfect in hand. The marbling effect and the distress this leather shows is incredible. It’s a thing of beauty and with it, no two Bibles will look exactly alike. It looks great and of course… it smells great!
Two features Peterson put on the cover that I didn’t ask for but I love are the full yapp and the tooled perimeter line. I think they are a necessary combination. I love the full yapp, but the ICR is a big Bible. This sucker has some major yapp! However, the Badalassi leather holds its shape very well so unlike goatskin, it doesn’t really lose the training given to it. With such a big yapp, the tooled perimeter line creates a sort of definition for the block amidst the Bible. It looks great!
I decided I’d like to go with a black accent for this Bible so the black perimeter stitching contrasts nicely the four black Berisford ribbons look great as well! I was glad he decided to give me four instead of three. It just looks better on a Bible this size. They also look really great alongside the gold gilt of the faux leather version of the ICR.
The spine of this Bible really shines! It’s full and looks fantastic. To begin with, I love Peterson’s spine hubs. I always critique spine hubs because they’re one of my favorite features of a Bible. The spine hubs from Rex Rebinds are beautiful. They have good definition and the edges are tooled so they really pop. To be honest, they are some of my favorite I’ve seen from a rebinder.
I wanted the space between the hubs to be taken up. We decided to go with a blind stamp for the spine and I’m glad we did. It’s nice and dark and is almost a dark brown because of the leather. Going down the spine is “HOLY BIBLE”, “Legacy Standard Bible”, the Chi Rho, “Sola Scriptura”, and the Rex Rebinds logo. It looks so good.
Inside is a black Lambskin liner that feels so nice and soft. I love the feel of a liner on a rebind because it feels so much better than anything that is mass produced. You can tell just by touching it that it’s better than anything you get from any of the big names. Peterson surprised me with the end sheets and I absolutely love them. I told him I was kind of going for a black and gold look because I’m a big Saints football fan and so he incorporated those colors into my end sheets and they look phenomenal.
I always have to mention corners because in a rebind, typically, they are a thing of beauty. Peterson’s are no exception. They look great!
One thing I’m very impressed with is how flat Rex’s rebind lays. It is crucial for this block to lay flat since the references are in the gutter. If it was bound too tight, it would make the best feature almost unusable. This rebind lays flat in Genesis one and it opens wide. ET deserves major props for this because it is a hard skill to achieve!
On the back liner in gold is the full Rex Rebinds logo. Also, in gold is the number of the rebind he’s completed as well as the date. I love this actually because it shows that this is handcrafted art. It makes me feel like I’m a part of the journey.
I love this Bible. I haven’t stopped using it since I received it. To be newer, Peterson is doing fantastic work and I highly recommend you use him for your next rebind. I am positive you won’t be disappointed. Also, if you do choose to use him, tell him I sent you! Be sure to hit up Rex Rebinds on Facebook!
