Awooga! No instruction needed to fall for this beauty! 

We are continuing our obsession with ribbon-embossed cloth this week. This particular binding is more ornate than last week’s feature, with blind ornamental blocking accenting the pattern of the cloth. The gold-stamped title suits the decadence of the subject matter.

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

The art of love, with a remedy for love / [Ovid] ; translated from the French.  Philadelphia. 1839. 144 p., [3] leaves of plates :  ill. ; 16 cm

For Publishers’ Binding Thursday, we present this ribbon-embossed cloth bound book from 1836. This style of decorative cloth typically featured a floral or botanical pattern, though more abstract designs have been documented.  Ribbon-embossed grain got its name from its original intention: as decoration for cloth ribbons. However, the rising popularity of grained and decorated book-cloth in the 1830s and 1840s led to the production of ribbon-embossed cloth for use as a book covering. 

We love the simplicity of this binding, and the choice to let the cloth speak for itself with no additional decoration beyond the paper spine label.  

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

1836, Awful exposure of the atrocious plot…  New York : Printed for Jones & Co. of Montreal. 1836.