tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24173561567858904472010-03-05T14:01:28.499-05:00A blog by <a href="http://minsky.com"> <b>Richard Minsky</b></a><br> <br>Featuring <a href="http://minsky.com/orderform-subscription1.htm">Decorated Publishers' Bindings, 1870-1930</a>Rnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-65786137753482055032010-02-26T21:58:00.005-05:002010-02-26T22:02:23.140-05:00

I am pleased to announce that George Braziller is publishing a trade edition of my work on American Publishers' Bindings titled The Art of American Book Covers, 1875-1930.  It will be in full color and have about 150 images. It will have a stamped full cloth cover, in keeping with the content. Above is a scan of the sample from the bindery. It is a practical demonstration that the effects

Rnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-15065569812959617672010-01-21T05:01:00.001-05:002010-01-23T05:46:16.414-05:00

 [This was originally posted Friday, October 9, but had a technical problem and had to be reposted.] The first post on this blog showed the 1881 cover of Mr. Bodley Abroad, a design decades ahead of its time. Here are four more covers that are clearly by the same artist: The Bodleys on Wheels by Horace E. Scudder Houghton, Osgood and Company The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1879 Printed

Rnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-27628012084602758612010-01-21T04:40:00.000-05:002010-01-21T04:40:46.358-05:00

Among the first of the artists who transformed commercial binding design, Sarah de St. Prix Wyman Whitman was a hard working visionary who in many ways represented the modern woman. She was a successful portrait painter, had a stained glass workshop, and designed hundreds of books for Houghton, many with simple lettering, like Timothy’s Quest below.   Timothy’s Quest by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Rnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-67654715878866661222009-09-06T04:40:00.034-04:002009-09-06T08:59:24.554-04:00

Continuing yesterday's topic, here is an example of a series of books issued by L. C. Page with the related design format for each title available in red, white or blue cloth.  It appears that all three colors were available simultaneously for each title. One interesting aspect is the use of a white cloth panel glued onto the red and blue books instead of white stamping.  White stamping was

Rnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-2704879023550125782009-09-05T06:56:00.002-04:002009-09-05T07:03:51.883-04:00

Many books were issued in several variants of the same design. Some are on well defined subsequent printings or editions, or from the same dies used by a different publisher, while others are on copies that appear bibliographically identical. There are many possible reasons for this, as a related current discussion on the Exlibris listserv indicates. Books were issued in several colors to appeal

Rnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-21368924962245586562009-08-29T09:46:00.005-04:002009-08-29T10:37:22.978-04:00

. The New Day A poem in Songs and Sonnets by Richard Watson Gilder Illustrations engraved by Henry Marsh 1 New York: Scribner, Armstrong, and Company, 1876 17.8 x 13.5 cm [Design often attributed to Helena DeKay Gilder] 2 Gold stamped peacock feather on blue cloth over beveled boards. It is a brilliant example of the engraver’s art—both in the quality of technique used to execute it, and the

Rnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-26167544187354428652009-08-28T15:41:00.011-04:002009-08-28T16:49:55.526-04:00

.Fly-Leavesby C. S. C. (Charles Stuart Calverley)New York: Holt and Williams, 187217 x 11.5 cmThis binding was recognized early on as an important departure from existing cover designs. In the landmark 1894 exhibition "Commercial Bookbindings" at The Grolier Club, this book was chosen as: ...an excellent example of the beginnings from which came the modern commercial cover of the first class.

Rnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-32349175261929571212009-08-26T10:42:00.006-04:002009-08-26T11:05:10.065-04:00

Monday's New York Observer had an article about the "new" trend in publishing--eliminating the dust jacket and stamping directly on the cover of a hardbound book.The New Thing: Books Without JacketsThere has been some discussion of this among the rare book community on the Exlibris listserv. One of my comments was that the design that illustrates the article, No Impact Man, appears to be a

Rnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2417356156785890447.post-56289046256424848602009-08-26T06:54:00.000-04:002009-08-26T07:25:28.194-04:00

This blog is about book covers. The posts will mainly be about the "Golden Age" of American publishing, the period from about 1875 to 1930 when stamped cloth bindings brought innovative art and design into the homes of the reading public.In the sidebar you can read posts from other blogs that present more recent cover art, which is mostly paperback book cover or dust jacket design.Not all books

Rnoreply@blogger.com4