My Catholic Library Reviews

Mark restored four volumes of Omnia Opera of St Bernard of Clairvaux - a nineteenth-century edition. He is a perfectionist and that is precisely what he achieves! I am about to give him several more books to 'resurrect'.

Mark has recently repaired my Small Missal which had been in a very poor condition. The missal had been given to me in 1954 by my brother on his wedding day when I had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid that day. I had been looking for someone to repair the Missal for years but couldn’t find anyone who provided this service - but most importantly someone that I could trust with such an important possession and heirloom. My prayers were answered when my parish priest (Fr Christopher) placed Mark’s details in the church bulletin. I am so thrilled with the end result. My Missal has been given a new life. I am so happy and thrilled at Mark’s craftsmanship and I would certainly be happy to recommend Mark.

I have just seen the wonderful work and restoration Mark has achieved with my late Fathers 30 year old Psalter. It is an incredible gift and talent he has ! I was so moved to be able to hold the book as my Dad used to morning and night. This will be treasured for life by our family. Thank you for the care and craftsmanship you put into this. Lisa Greene ( daughter of Marie)

I’ve just received my late husband’s 30 year old Psalter from the creative hands of Mark. I can’t believe the transformation. It’s a much used and much loved prayer book but over the years had lost its ribbons and outer cover to name just a few of its battle wounds! But thanks to Mark it’s now in a beautiful leather cover and box with new ribbons. I can’t thank Mark enough for its restoration. Don’t hesitate to contact Mark if you’d like a treasured book to be given first class treatment. Just see what a poor state the prayer book was in before Mark restored it to new life on the attached photos. Incredible.

Mark repaired an old prayerbook to an exceptional standard sympathetic to its age and original details. Would highly recommend to others for any book repair

I recently had two of my missals recovered by Mark and I am utterly impressed. It is beautiful craftsmanship and I would recommend his services to anyone. 10/10!

I recently took a lectionary which had been damaged accidentally to Mark Chatwood at My Catholic Library. The spine edge was hanging loose and I felt it might be beyond repair. However, Mark was able to use his amazing bookbinding skills to fully restore the lectionary to its former complete state. This included colour matching the cover of the book. The lectionary is now back in its rightful place on the lectern in church and, thanks to Mark, the Word of God can be proclaimed again! The cost of the repair was very reasonable and we at the parish of St John Fisher RC Church, Kearsley are extremely grateful for Mark's experienced knowledge and expertise in being able to restore our treasured lectionary. We thoroughly recommend My Catholic Library to everyone who has a treasured book in need of tender loving care. Thanks again Mark. Stephen Robinson - on behalf of Father Bryan Cunningham, parish priest of the parish of St John Fisher RC Church and the Shoenstatt Pastoral Centre, Kearsley, Bolton.

Lovely job from Mark I feel like I have a new Missal not a 60 - 70yr old one. Thank you Mark

I'm very pleased with Mark's job, it restored my fifty-year-old missal to be like new. I believe even better because of the brand-new covers made of calf leather and endpapers. Mark even resorted to completing some missing Saints Day pages. Many thanks, Mark, great job. Glory be to God!

Posted before and after photo's of my restored book to show what an excellent and professional job that Mark completed. Fantastic service from Mark. He makes sure you get what you want from the restoration service. I would heartily recommend His work. I am delighted with the end result.

I entrusted my school prize Bible which I have used daily for 60 years and was in pieces. Mark, thank you for doing such a fantastic professional job, it looks good for another 60 years! Thank you for the extra care you took removing the prize label and placing it within the renewed covers and for carefully placing the last bit of the original spine with Holy Bible on it inside for me. Highly recommend you and your work.

Mark made the process so easy. The Missal he restored for me had belonged to my late Mother, and was in urgent need of repair. Mark quoted on the project, just from photographs. He kept in touch with me, suggesting the box to store the missal in. Two last touches were the gold lettering on the box, and a fitted envelope to insert the cards my Mother had collected, one dated back to the early 60s. I am grateful for Mark's care and attention, and highly recommend him, for his skills and expertise. The new maker ribbons he added were a lovely final touch for an excellent restoration.

Mr Chatwood's restoration of my book was carried out swiftly and to my great satisfaction. I can recommend his work with confidence.

Mark carried out some lovely work on a book whose topic was very close to my heart, and which I'd discovered serendipitously in an old box, in an old outbuilding, in a place very close to my heart. So it was a very personal project for me and Mark took a very personal approach to it. I was fortunate to be able to hand it over to him in person and it felt like a pair of safe hands from the start. As shown in the photos, the book was crumbling and, to my layman's eyes, was a total write-off! However, Mark soon sent me the photos of the work in progress and I was relieved to see it recover its strength. He added some delightful end paper, which beautifully enhanced the original. What really amazed me, though, was seeing the finished product: Mark had only shown me pictures with the cover he had put on, but when it arrived I saw he'd carefully stripped the old cover from the book and attached it to the new one so that it almost looked like the original. I was blown away! I would thoroughly recommend Mark's services!

Stunning job done with my 1951 misal. Impecable leather cover replacement with Fleur de Lys print. I chose the matching front page that I preferred. I'm delighted, thank you very much Mark! 🤗

Beautifully produced children’s missal. What made it special was the bespoke feature of the added name to the bind.

Excellent work on refreshing a 1936 New Testament with new endpapers, ribbons, red paint bookedge, and protective coating on the cover. Great eye for colour matching and fair pricing. Responsive communication. Many thanks!

We have had several books repaired and rebound excellently by Mark. In particular a small Missal, over 60 years old and rather battered, beautifully rebound, with a new cover and new ribbons added. The character of the Missal itself was expertly retained and Mark made a box in which to keep the Missal. We are delighted by the result.

Treasured 1959 Daily Missal in a poor condition (damaged, detached cover, all ribbons frayed and dogeared pages) all restored to prestine condition and in a complimentary protective case.

I can’t thank Mark enough for the excellent job he did on repairing my old (1949) well used missal. The leather front was falling off, it had some small rips on some of the pages, Mark was able to fix them for me and to replace all of my ribbons with new ones, as well as replacing the old front cover with a beautiful new leather one. I could highly recommend Marks skills as a book binder, His work is excellent! I would recommend that anyone who’s looking for a professional book binder uses Mark to repair there Missal's or old books. Thanks again for the wonderful job you have done repairing my old missal. God bless.