Library Company of Philadelphia

As evidenced by this publishers’ binding, purple bookcloth is notorious for fading. Notice the distinct line where the fading begins. The portion of the cloth that did not fade was protected from the sun, probably by another book on the shelf.

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

1836 [i. e. 1834 -1858], The works of Mrs. Sherwood. : Being the only uniform edition ever published in the United States. Sherwood, Mrs. Mary Martha. New York : Harper & Brothers. 12 cm x 19 cm x 4 cm.

— 5 years ago with 22 notes

#BensLibrary #PublishersBindings #PublishersBindingThursday #Purple #ClothBindings #AmericanPublishersBindings #Tumblarians #MaryMarthaSherwood #FadedCloth #RibbonEmbossedCloth #RibbonEmbossedClothBindings #1830s

For Publishers’ Binding Thursday, we present this ribbon-embossed cloth-bound book from 1836.

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 gold spine title.

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

1836, Phrenology known by its fruits. Reese, David Meredith. New York : Howe & Bates.

— 6 years ago with 14 notes

#benslibrary #ribbonembossedclothbindings #ribbonembossedcloth #publishersbindingthursday #publishersbindings #bookcloth #rarebooks #phrenology #19thcenturybooks