#publishersbindings

[librarycompany]

This time of year is gift-giving season, and around here that means gift books!

Literary annuals embellished with lots of illustrations and done up in fancy bindings, gift books were all the rage between the 1820s-1850s. They were typically published towards the end of the year, just in time for the holidays.

This edition of the Token for 1830 is bound in purple moiré silk, and the title simply and elegantly stamped in gold on the spine.

The Token. (Boston, [1829])

[hdslibrary]

Happy National Read a Book Day from this shelfie featuring some of our publishers’ bindings [OLD DIV]! 
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEzeeI1JTOI/?igshid=1nye2k9g770v5

[star-wonder]

Dear friends, Prepare for a wall of text! 🙃 For the past several months, I've been creating a new art series: a visual tribute to obscure powers often overlooked by a culture that rewards the loud and the ruthless. Among these obscure powers are Solitude, Nurture, Mourning, Observation, and Harmony. Initially, I didn't plan to finish Mourning first, but I think its release is timely. There are difficult things happening in the lives of virtually everyone I know. I am often weighed down by the sadness of the world, of death, of corruption. Yet I am slowly learning that the only way forward is through. I must mourn; I must give space and honor to mourning, and not push it aside. Mourning has the power to cleanse and bring transformation. In this illustration, Mara mourns alone; her solitude is part of her grief. But not too far behind her, a mourning dove is there with a call that gives her a bit of hope. The mourning dove was common where I grew up in the Midwest, and has remained one of my favorite birds. This seemed an appropriate place to include one. ✨ Thank you for reading this far! It makes me glad to know that the work I'm creating means something to others. I know it won't be for everyone, and that's all right. I'm deciding to focus my energy on what matters most to me. <3 Abbi . . . #starwonderart #abbischellhase #obscurepowers #fantasyillustration #pastelgothart #artnouveaulovers #artnouveaudesign #artnouveaustyle #publishersbinding #publishersbindings #artdecoratif #emotive_arts #fairytaleart #ethereal_moods #ethereal #femaleillustrators #romanticart #decorativeart #vintagebookcover #inspirationalart #illustratorsofig #beautifulbizarre #artofsofa #gentlenessisstrength #procreatedrawing #procreateartist #ipadprocreate #smallbusinesslove https://www.instagram.com/p/B1l6IzGDRTM/?igshid=53yi98gc2kw8

[biodivlibrary]

Publishers’ Binding Thursday!

Cover of Practical Camellia Culture: a treatise on the propagation and culture of the Camellia japonica (1880) by Robert J. Halliday. Contributed for digitization by @ncsulibraries via @internetarchive to Biodiversity Heritage Library. 

[librarycompany]

Today's #PublishersBindingThursday brought to you by some companionable books and a cover design by the incomparable Margaret Armstrong.

What are your favorite companionable books?

Henry Van Dyke. Companionable books. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922.

[librarycompany]

This week our #publishersbindingThursday post goes #outofthisworld with three delightfully star-studded covers. Because we couldn’t pick just one. 

Proctor, R.A. The Expanse of Heaven: a Series of Essays on the Wonders of the Firmament. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889.

Raymond, Rossiter W. The Man in the Moon, and Other People. New York : The American News Company, 1874.

Rambosson, J. Astronomy. New York: D. Appleton & Co., [187-?].

[librarycompany]

Happy #publishersbindingThursday, #feathursday edition! We love the gold stamping almost as much as we love the marbled cloth! Swoon!

C.W. Webber. Wild Scenes and Song-Birds. New York: George P. Putnam & Co., 1854. 

[librarycompany]

A rainbow of publishers bindings from our cloth bindings database to cap off Pride Month.