Library Company of Philadelphia
“The house in which a great poet has lived always interests us, but it can not hold so much of his life as the trees through which his thoughts have made Æolian melodies, or the roadsides along which his imaginations have blossomed into song.” –Lucy Larcom.
We’re celebrating #PublishersBindingThursday and #NationalPoetryMonth with our copy of Lucy Larcom’s Landscape in American Poetry (New York, circa 1879), which features overlapping landscape designs printed in black and gold, as well as bevelled edge boards.
Larcom, Lucy.
Landscape in american poetry. New York : D. Appleton and Company.
[c1879]
Our copy of Clarence Cook’s The House Beautiful (New York, 1878) includes this gold-stamped illustration of a young woman reading on a chaise longue by a fireplace… #goals
#MacroMonday
Our copy of Allitter, or The Melody of Language (New York, 1836) features a gorgeous example of ribbon embossed cloth. #PublishersBindingThursday
Strait, H.
Allitter, or the melody of language. New York: G. A. C. Van Beuren.
1836.
We were challenged by the American Antiquarian Society to post seven days of #bookcovers without explanation or review.
Day 3:
Beecher, Lyman. Views in theology. Cincinnati : Truman and Smith. 1836.
The sinking sun on our copy of John Burroughs’ Winter Sunshine (New York, 1876) is a #mood
#PublishersBindingThursday
Winter sunshine. Burroughs, John. New York : Hurd and Houghton. 1876.
It’s #PublishersBindingThursday, and we have Hen Fever!
We love this binding on our copy of George Burnham’s The History of the Hen Fever (Boston, 1855), in which he claims, “Never in the history of modern ‘bubbles’, did any mania exceed in ridiculousness or ludicrousness.”
Hen Fever refers to the mid-19th-century trend in collecting rare and beautiful chickens from around the world, popularized by Queen Victoria and her aviary. Although the trend was over as quickly as it began, we are thrilled it resulted in this incredible binding! #Feathursday
We love the intricate blind-stamped design on our copy of George Weaver’s Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women (New York, 1856). #PublishersBindingThursday
Weaver’s preface states that “Society does little else than to teach its girls to be dolls and drudges.” As was the case with other conduct of life texts from this time period, Aims and Aids was intended as a resource for young women to encourage self-education in all areas of life, including moral and intellectual education as well as promoting physical exercise.
Browse our database of 19th-century cloth bindings to see more!
Weaver, George S.
Aims and aids for girls and young women.
New York : Fowler and Wells, 1856.
It’s time for a very #Slytherin edition of #PublishersBindingThursday! There is so much to love about our copy of Bailey’s Festus (Boston, 1847), including that gorgeous striped cloth and amazing serpent detail. This is a true #GiltyPleasure
Browse our database of 19th-century cloth bindings to see more!
Bailey.
Festus : a poem. Boston : Benjamin B. Mussey.
1847. 19 cm x 13 cm x cm
“I stood and watched by the window the noiseless work of the sky, And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, like brown leaves whirling by.”
This verse from The First Snow-Fall by James Russell Lowell and published in our copy of Winter Poems recalls Autumn as the season changes to Winter, a perfect verse for the Winter solstice and the first day of the season.
Winter Poems by Favorite American Poets. Boston : Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1871.
Our copy of H.C. Bunner’s Short Sixes (New York, 1891) features this unusual, and perhaps unique, two-cloth binding. We hope this inspires others to look through their collections, we would love to see similar bindings if they’re out there!