Library Company of Philadelphia
Pull up a chair and take a moment to appreciate the gilt-stamped binding on our copy of Downing’s The Architecture of Country Houses (New York, 1856). 19th-Century publishers’ bindings marked a new trend in book decoration: using images from the text as part of the cover design. Prior to this, book decoration rarely related to the textual content.
The three chairs featured here are from an engraving on page 454 of the text.
Browse our database of 19th-century cloth bindings to see more!
https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/cloth%3A40842
Do you recall wrapping text books when you were in school? The tradition of using wrappers for protecting a well-loved (or used) book goes way back. This 1894 ad promotes the use of adjustable wrappers to protect books of many sizes.
“The Adjustable Book Cover” Self-adjusting book covers on a copy of Linnaeus Cumming, Heat Treated Experimentally (London, 1894). Michael Zinman Binding Collection.
People like to save sentimental memorabilia, the small ephemera of our daily lives that remind us of a special moment or a loved one. Books serve this purpose well. Friendship albums, scrapbooks, yearbooks, and photo albums hold our memories between their covers. Some photograph albums from the late 19th century blurred the line between parlor decoration and book. They were meant to sit out on display and were often made out of wildly diverse and unusual materials.
This photograph album is both decorative and functional. The covers open downward and the photos are oriented vertically for easy viewing while on the stand. The drawer is for extra photos and other memorabilia.
This photograph album is on display as part of our current exhibition, The Living Book : New Perspectives on Form and Function, free and open to the public through January 5, 2018.
[Empty photograph album with stand]
Coll Bindings Photograph Albums 17291.Q
Is it superficial to love this album for its shiny golden gauffered edges? We don’t think so. #giltypleasures
We are also so excited to announce our upcoming exhibition,
#GiltyPleasures : Sharing Special Collections Through Social Media,
curated by you, our followers as well as Library Company’s very own social media mavens. Come see the materials you’ve loved and followed in person, on display January 29 - April 6. More info coming soon!!
Photograph Album P.2010.11.8 (ca. 1860s?)
We love the subtle floral ribbon-embossed cloth on our copy of Hamilton’s Practical Catechism on Singing (New York, 1839).
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.
Browse the Library Company’s database of 19th-Century Cloth Bindings to see more!
We are excited to share our first contribution to this month’s #ArchivesPotluck challenge: the Tart of Medlers from A Book of Fruits & Flovvers (London, 1653). The recipe reads:
Take medlers that be rotten, and stamp them, and set them upon a chafin-dish with coales, and beat in two yolks of eggs, boyling till it be somewhat thick, then season it with sugar, cinamon, and ginger, and lay it in paste.
Medlars are a fruit resembling a large rose hip that appear to be rotten when they are ready to eat. Their flavor and texture have been compared to apple butter.
Have you ever tried a medlar?
It’s a #PublishersBindingThursday double feature! Both of our copies of Willis’ Sacred Poems (New York, 1847) are bound in a green and black printed-pattern cloth. We can’t decide which is our favorite. Can you?
We don’t have to TRY too hard to love this binding! This unique gilt decoration is on our copy of Randolph’s Eulis! The History of Love (Toledo, Ohio, 1874).
Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1875) was an African-American doctor, Rosicrucian, and occultist. He was the founder of the Brotherhood of Eulis and authored several books, including the title featured here. #PublishersBindingThursday
“To give an accurate description of their shape is a thing impossible. Some of them appear with horns that they bend to every shape; some seem to have but one leg and a tail, others seem to have three; some have bodies somewhat of the shape of a tadpole; others bear a distant resemblance to the porpoise; others exhibit the shape of a catfish with the head of a grass-hopper; others resemble nothing under the sun, but are wholly sui generis.”
Magnified #PageFrights from The Book of Wonders (Boston, circa 1872).
Canvassing books were used by salesmen who went door-to-door taking orders for books. These books are multi-function tools. The front and back covers displayed two of the binding styles available for purchase. Other versions were adhered to the inside, which also showed sample pages and illustrations. Some included a cheat-sheet with pitches to highlight all the special features and increase sales. In the back of the book the agent filled in order sheets with the name, address, and binding style that the customer wished to purchase.
This canvassing book was meant to show four binding styles, two of which you can see in this post. Bound into the book are samples of engravings, a family record page, photograph album pages, a marriage certificate, and some dictionary samples. These special pages have pink notes attached with a script for the canvasser to use in his pitch. The one shown here goes into great detail about the most expensive Bible on offer, each “medallion” described in effusive detail.
This book is on display as part of our current exhibition, The Living Book : New Perspectives on Form and Function, free and open to the public through January 5, 2018.