THE ART OF BOOK COVERS

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V22 2019 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 7, February 17, 2019, Article 29

For the pure bibliophiles among us, here's an article from The Public Domain Review. Great collection. -Editor

Inspired by rising literacy rates and advancing technologies, the nineteenth century saw the book transform from a largely hand-made object to a mass-produced product. In this new environment the book cover took on added importance: it was no longer merely a functional protection for the pages but instead became a key platform through which to communicate and sell the book.

Prior to this covers had - bar a smattering of highly bespoke one-off creations (e.g. embroidered covers for personal libraries) - mostly been plain leather bound affairs. From the 1820s, with the rise of mechanical bookbinding, these leather covers of old gave way to new cloth coverings which, in addition to being inexpensive, were now also printable.

A wide variety of cover printing techniques were employed over the decades: from embossing to gilt to multi-colour lithography. A totally new artistic space was opened up. As you can see in our highlights below it was one in which illustrators and designers flourished, producing a range of covers as eclectic in aesthetic approach as the myriad contents they fronted.

How about numismatic book covers? What are your favorites? This compilation stops at 1920, but all are fair game right up to the present. -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
The Art of Book Covers (1820-1914) (https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-art-of-book-covers-1820-1914/)

Check out the PDR web site for interesting artiles on a wide variety of topics. I also enjoyed The Tomb and the Telephone Box: Soane’s Mausoleum (1816) (https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-tomb-and-the-telephone-box-soanes-mausoleum-1816/) and The Dancing Plague of 1518 (https://publicdomainreview.org/2018/07/10/the-dancing-plague-of-1518/) -Editor

Founded in 2011, the PDR is an online journal and not-for-profit project dedicated to the exploration of curious and compelling works from the history of art, literature, and ideas.

As our name suggests, the focus is on works which have now fallen into the public domain, that vast commons of out-of-copyright material that everyone is free to enjoy, share, and build upon without restriction.