Gift Kit for Centenary Jubilee.

Every paper element is acid-free stock that resists yellowing and embrittlement over decades. Standard commercial board and paper turn brittle and discolour within a couple of decades, and a hundred-year commemorative is expected to outlast that. The box itself is rigid greyboard under a cloth wrap, which ages well and stays formal.

We do not run centenary editions on ordinary commercial stock.

Section sewing holds a book together for decades where a glued spine eventually fails. The heritage volume is usually the substantial centrepiece of the kit, a researched history reproduced from the archive, and it will be opened and read many times over a long life. Cloth binding over rigid board serves the same purpose on the cover.

Each kit carries an individually numbered plate recording its place within a stated edition size. Numbering turns the box from a gift into an artefact, and it is the element we recommend on every centenary run. Copies for the records office are often set aside from the same numbered sequence.

The number is applied by foil or deboss to the plate, never printed loose on a card.

Blind deboss, with no ink and no foil, ages better than anything printed and suits the register exactly. Where a mark is wanted in metal, foil is applied sparingly to a date or crest. Cloth binding carries the formal weight, and matt lamination protects any printed panel.

Restored archive material is reproduced to archival standards for the inside pieces.

12 by 9 by 4 inches and 14 by 11 by 5 inches are the two formats we make most. The size follows the heritage volume, since the book sets the footprint and the fitted insert holds the remaining items around it. Cloth-wrapped rigid board adds a little to the external measurements.

We will size the box once the edition contents are confirmed.

500 kits is the minimum we set up for a centenary edition. Numbering, cloth binding and section sewing all carry fixed setup, and the per-kit rate steps down above 1,000. Institutions that need fewer presentation copies usually add records office and archive copies to the same run.

Production itself runs 7 to 10 business days, with 5 to 7 business days on a rush, but the archive research and proofing before that take far longer. We advise starting years ahead so the heritage volume is not rushed. A sample kit is made in 5 to 7 business days and the sample fee is credited when the edition is placed.

Bound cloth over rigid board is durable, formal and ages better than a laminated paper wrap over a long display life. Paper wraps scuff at the corners and laminates can lift after years of handling. Cloth takes blind deboss and restrained foil cleanly, which is exactly the finishing this register calls for.