Friday from the Library
This week as I prepare for an exhibition later in the month; I find myself pleasantly distracted by an invitation. I have been asked to design a book cover (not necessarily a jacket)
As I work closely with books that are circulated on a regular basis, I understand the need for a book cover and its jacket. At first they are both useful for advertising and for the books’ promotion. After that, the cover and its jacket are merely protection. The jacket is usually discarded and the cover often destroyed by library staff with labels and tags, by students or simply, they get worn so any images are obliterated .
However, when the books that are no longer circulated in the same way and have become rare and special we look more closely at the covers or bindings. We mourn the loss of the jacket.
And as a result we do have a items reunited with jackets and honoured as they should be.
So I was able to look at a few this week although a little outdated they are evocative and food for thought.
“Never judge a book by its cover,” is probably the least followable advice in the universe. You are a part of a group of unsung heros.
We are!! thank you have a good day
I love seeing older book jackets! Book illustration is very much underrated as an art.
I noticed that our local library had replaced an older hardcover copy of a Joan Aiken children’s book with a new paperback edition, which has a different cover than the original. The librarian must have thought I was nuts to have noticed and ask where the old book was. It was just old and needed to be replaced apparently, though when we borrowed it it seemed to be in fine condition. It’s just not the same experience when reading a new paperback edition of an older book.