Bibliophiles understand the personal and thoughtful sentiment behind giving a book as a gift. Just last year you gave your blue-ribbon gardening Aunt Lucy a coffee table book on rare roses. For your golfhound brother-in-law you purchased a popular collection of fairway anecdotes. Newport's only master bookbinder, Jim Currier, has some ideas that can make written gifts even more meaningful.

Ever since he apprenticed with a master bookbinder at Brown University in 1971, Currier has been crafting artistically beautiful books that anyone would love to receive. He specializes in restoring antique texts, but he also creates new books out of high-quality leather and paper and custom builds protective boxes for valuable works. For Aunt Lucy, Currier could design an album covered in vegetable-dyed calfskin and beautiful accenting papers so she can make her own coffee table book by placing cherished snapshots of her prized blooms on photo-friendly, acid-free pages. For the family golfer, you could hunt down an old book on St. Andrew's for Currier to restore.

Tending to his vocation in a cozy but well-equipped basement bindery off Thames Street, Currier's current projects include a custom box to protect a 19th century novel, an oversized, hand-stitched registry for a local bed & breakfast, and a slipbox for an early 20th century book of duck etchings. Family bibles comprise many of his restoration projects, and heirloom cookbooks and family histories often come to him specifically to be turned into gifts. Currier can repair most damage caused by water, mold and age. He hand-tools replacement leather bindings adorned with embossed gold leaf titles, and from his unique inventory of hand-marbled papers and exceptional leathers, he chooses different combinations for each project.

Surprisingly, some vintage books decline in value if restored. Ragged first edition Faulkners or Willa Cathers, perhaps, would be better left in original bindings and covers. "For any 20th century or modern first editions, I'll make a box," says Currier. Some of these protective boxes look like actual books which, when opened, display the treasured volume. Others are simply cloth-covered with an open end where the book slips inside.

Whether you choose a restoration or a one-of-a-kind creation, Currier will create a prized work of art made exclusively for your loved one. Costs vary depending on time and materials. Prices can range from $35 for a simple slip box to $300 for large bible restorations. Usually Currier can produce the objects in two to four weeks.

"Outdoors books and golf books are very big right now," he says. "I think that is most of my business." Currier's clients, mostly North American antiquarian book dealers, usually mail books to him. While most of his business comes from out of state, he loves personal projects for local clients.