Today, many people are using an e-reader, or debating about getting one. This is what was happening in the early 1840s: “Americans were buying books as decorative objects for their homes as well as works of literature. This was not the same as buying sets of books by the yard to decorate the shelves of a home library. The beautiful covers of individual books were meant to be seen, not hidden on shelves with only their spines exposed” (Richard Minsky).
Maybe you read Mark’s blog a couple of days ago about Richard Minsky’s The Art of American Book Covers 1875-1930 (George Braziller, 2010). Even though I am a sucker for beautiful, clever art work on books, it took a while to sink in. I kept admiring the many beautiful examples of book covers from the Golden Age that Richard Minsky has cared for and brought to our attention. Then it donned on me: the two charming books I bought many years ago from an antique bookstore are from this era.
This sent me back to Minsky’s book scouring for any information that might give me more clues about my books. The first book is entitled My Heart and Stephanie by R. W. Kauffman. Published in 1910 by L. C. Page & Company, the cover featuring artwork by A. G. Learned. Tooling around on the Internet gleaned little information about Learned. Obviously, the content of the book was simply the fiction of the day. (Sadly, someone appears to have used Stephanie as a coaster at some point.)
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No doubt, the books I innocently picked up were not in the gorgeous condition featured in Minsky’s studies. But studying Minsky’s collection, I began to imagine the what vibrancy The Man on the Box must have had. Published in 1904 by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, the cover art does not yield any information or initials for the artist. Nonetheless, it is still charming in its rather worn state.
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Sharing the books with my coworkers eventually led me to Lemuria’s copy of The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad published in 1907 by Harper & Brothers. As Minsky points out in American Book Covers, many publishing houses felt that the book cover artist was just as important as the contents of the book. Harper & Brothers seems to have been a prolific supporter of the arts as Minsky has numerous examples from this publishing house.
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Still snooping around Lemuria for beautiful books, I found that the Franklin Library books of the 1960s and 70s reminded me of these Golden Age books. Even Raymond Carver’s collection of short stories entitled Where I’m Calling From signed by Carver and bound in 1988 by Franklin is a beautiful tribute.
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Back to our present book industry jolt with the e-book: Where are our beautiful books? No doubt there are many, but I chuckled when I realized the much-loved and popular-selling stamped linen classics series published by Penguin seem to be the closest and most affordable treasures similar to the books of the Golden Age. I have to wonder as the e-book becomes more prolific if book lovers will not hunger even more passionately for the tactile, sensual experience of books.
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