Within James Gagnon’s studio, there’s a shelf overflowing with Bibles.

From the King James to Easy-to-Read Versions, some falling apart at the seams.

The books that rest there have been worn by tear stains, smudges from pen ink, splashes from highlighters and detached by bookmarks.

Nearby, a vast array of leathers hang in a nook. Metal imprint stamps sit on another desk, with the letters spelling out “H-o-l-y B-i-b-l-e.”

The workshop is home to Rocky Mountain Bibles, which Gagnon opened in 2018. Here, with his experience as a leatherworker, Gagnon restores and rebinds Bibles to bring the books back to their former glory.

While Gagnon was raised Christian, he really came into his faith after revisiting the Bible when he was older.

“I’ve always had a love affair with books,” said Gagnon, who majored in English literature and works full-time as a teacher. “Then I read the Bible, and it just changed my life and changed my world.”

As a student of scripture, one of Gagnon’s Bibles had started to become worn, so he sought to repair it. While studying how to rebind a Bible, he started to become obsessed, he joked.

“I kind of got unusually obsessed with leather and figuring out how to do it,” he said. “And that obsession has remained.”

Much of Gagnon’s craft is self-taught. He points to an educational guide by expert Diego Caloca, “How to Rebind a Bible: From Start to Finish,” as a major resource in developing his skill set. The California-based Caloca also helped Gagnon as a mentor — Gagnon would often call Caloca when he had a question about the craft.

“It’s not a very common trade. There’s not many people that you can go and learn from,” Gagnon said. “I feel that God’s hand was kind of leading me in this direction because I hadn’t ever really leather-worked before, and I hadn’t really ever rebound books before, and yet, I found a way to do it.”

While practicing his work, Gagnon went through a lot of leather, he said. He’d often source his practice leather from the scraps of auto upholstery shops.

Now, however, he works with a wide range of colors and hides, including traditional goatskin and cowhide, as well as some more uncommon materials like deer and elk skin.

“My favorite, and kind of what sets me apart from other people that do this around the country, is I like to use deer and elk skin,” he said. “I love these animals, and being a hunter, I really treasure them, and I feel that their leather is superior for a lot of things.”

For the inside cover, Gagnon uses lambskin for its flexibility and soft feel, which allows him to do edge line binding. This technique, which involves binding the Bible to the tabs in the leather, allows for the book to be opened flat and ensures more durability.

And durability is Gagnon’s goal. Each book takes about a month to complete, but once done, it’s heirloom quality — meant to last generations.

Gagnon works hard to keep his prices as cheap as possible, but because of the quality of leather he uses, his services usually start at $160. He knows the price tag isn’t cheap, so he’ll often restore discarded Bibles he finds at thrift stores and donate those.

“It is a sticker shock because it’s expensive for a book. But I do try to keep my prices cheaper than anybody that is doing it because it’s not really a profit-making measure for me. … It’s expensive, but it’ll likely be the last Bible you ever have to buy,” he said.

Before working on a Bible, though, Gagnon likes to speak with the owner to understand what they’re looking for.

“It involves a pretty good conversation with the person. That’s one of the things I like best about this job, is meeting these people from all walks of life, in various stages of their Christian life,” he said.

Clients often come to Gagnon because they’re looking to pass down their Bible to family members, or to restore a dead loved one’s old Bible. Gagnon also works with a lot of pastors who want to keep their annotations and sermon notes.

Gagnon works with Born Again Used Books, a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs, as a location for clients to drop off their Bibles for restoration. He stops by once a week to pick up new orders — just make sure to leave a name and phone number with the book so he can call, he said.

That’s where retired Methodist Pastor Charlie Geller first heard about Gagnon’s work about seven years ago when the craftsman was just getting started. Since then, Geller’s had more than 20 Bibles restored by Gagnon.

“I am a student of Scripture, and so I want my Bibles to last a long time. And then, of course, when I die, I want to pass them on to people that I love,” said Geller, who served as a pastor for more the 40 years. Geller’s Bibles are often filled with notes, references and illustrations.

The retired pastor prefers to use deer skin for his Bibles, liking the lightweight and soft feel in his hands, he said.

Perhaps the most important part, however, is trust. Geller knows that Gagnon will treat his Bibles with respect.

“He’s a man of integrity. When he tells you something, he’s going to back it up. You never have to doubt that he is,” Geller said. “You know that that Bible is in someone’s hands that you trust, and that he is going to care for that Bible with the same love and sensitivity that you care for it.”

Trust is essential between Gagnon and his customers, who often are handing over one of their most important possessions to him. Some of the Bibles Gagnon’s restored have been nearly 200 years old.

“I recognized the Bible specifically as the word of God, and because of that, I recognize the importance of the Bible to people in their lives,” Gagnon said. “Once I put myself out there as being able to help people with this and wanting to learn it, people would give me these Bibles that were completely covered in notes and tear stains, and this Bible, this book, has gotten them through hard times and good times, and it’s basically their lifeblood.”