This #PublishersBinding from 1892 features some fancy gilt-stamped patterns. #GiltyPleasures

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

Caxton, Pisisttatus. 1892, My Novel. or, Varieties in English Life. Boston : Little, Brown, and Company. 12 cm x 19 cm x 3 cm

We’re curious if the rest of you bibliophiles will agree with us: choosing your favorite book is like choosing your favorite child - impossible! However, we are enchanted by the sweet and delicate gilt-stamping on this publishers’ binding from 1844. Is this the favorite? Well… ask us tomorrow ;)

(For the record, we love them all the same <3)

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

[1844], The Ladies’ hand-book of embroidery on muslin, lacework, and tatting. New York : J. S. Redfield [1844] cm x 13 cm x .5 cm

We’re okay with being a part of the herd in appreciation of this striking publishers’ binding. 

1882, Herd register of the American Jersey Cattle Club. Volume VI. - 1879. American Jersey Cattle Club. New York : Published by the club . 1882.

Ever wonder why you see a ton of gold-stamped cloth bindings from the 19th century, but hardly any silver? Gold-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. 

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

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

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

This week’s publishers’ binding is elegant in its simplicity. We love the delicate gold ferns against the green cloth, and the bevelled edge boards create a luxurious hand-feel. Notice also the type on the gold-stamped title. This spare and understated design is consistent with the aesthetic trend in American publishers’ bindings in the 1860s.

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

1867, May-day, and other pieces.  Emerson, Ralph Waldo.  Boston : Ticknor and Fields. 

“He filled their listening ears with wondrous things.” 

Although Episodes of Insect Life (1851) was not issued with an actual story-telling cricket, its buggy binding is the next best thing.

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

1851, Episodes of insect life.  Budgen, L. M. New York : J. S. Redfield.  1851.  15 cm x 22 cm x 3 cm.