We hear plaid is *in* this season, and we’re ready for it. 

Kate Douglas Wiggin. Penelope’s progress, being such extracts from the commonplace book of Penelope Hamilton as relate to her experiences in Scotland. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company; Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1898.

We love the delicate gilt-stamped leaves on our copy of Edward Parrish’s The Phantom Bouquet (Philadelphia, 1862). Looking for some fall crafting inspiration? This book gives step-by-step instructions for creating and decorating with skeletonized leaves, so you could have your own phantom bouquet by Halloween!

Edward Parrish.The phantom bouquet : a popular treatise on the art of skeletonizing leaves and seed-vessels. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co.1862.  

Ever wonder why you see a ton of gold-stamped cloth bindings from the 19th century, but hardly any silver? Gilt-stamping was a popular technique for decorating leather bindings, and made an easy transition to decorating cloth bindings when bookcloth first hit the American publishers’ binding scene in the 1830s. 

Since aluminum-stamping was not available until the late 1870s, and was most popular through the 1880s, we see fewer examples in collections today. 

Rollo in Holland. Abbott, Jacob. New York : Hurst & Co. [ca. 1880?] 10 cm x 15 cm x 2.5 cm. 

Our feed has been looking a little gray-scale this week, so we decided to introduce a little color. But then we couldn’t decide which color, so we just did all of them.  

G. W. Septimus Piesse. Chymical natural and physical magic intended for the instruction and amusement of juveniles during the holiday vacation. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1859.

We don’t see too many white cloth bound books, and those we do see are usually quite discolored. At least the grayed cloth on our copy of Pictorial Life of Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia, 1846) adds to the moodiness of those gilt-stamped clouds!

#PublishersBindingThursday

Pictorial life of Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia : Lindsay & Blakiston. 1846.      

It’s time for a #Feathursday edition of #PublishersBindingThursday! Published in 1850, our copy of The Book of Birds features a stunning color-blocked white cloth binding.

Browse the Library Company’s database of 19th-Century Cloth Bindings to see more!

The Book of birds. Philadelphia : George S. Appleton. 1850.       

The gilt decoration on our copy of Robert Buist’s The Family Kitchen Gardener (New York, 1847) is giving us some major garden inspiration! 

#PublishersBindingThursday

Robert Buist. The family kitchen gardener, containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables. New York : J. C. Riker. 1847.    

Yesterday we shared a plate with images of mountains and volcanoes from a recent acquisition. Today we’re sharing its front cover for #PublishersBindingThursday! 

The striped printed pattern bookcloth nearly obscures the blind-stamped decoration on our copy of Diagrams of Geology, History, and Physcial Geography (London, c1850).

Diagrams of geology, history, and physical geography. London: J. Reynolds, 1849-1850. 

Our copy of James Bean’s The Christian Minister’s Affectionate Advice to a Married Couple (New York, 1866) is bound in a gorgeous pale pink fabric with a true moiré grain. #PublishersBindingThursday

Bean, James. The Christian minister’s affectionate advice to a married couple. New York : American Tract Society. 1866.     

We love the delicate gold decoration on our copy of The Ladies’ Hand-Book of Knitting, Netting, and Crochet (New York, 1844). 

#PublishersBindingThursday

The Ladies’ hand-book of knitting, netting and crochet. New York : J. S. Redfield. 1844