Books have play an inconceivably crucial part in the tale of human history, lets look at that story through their cover art.
After the renaissance, and especially in the Victorian age, rates of literacy and the curiosity throughout the West took off. In the 19th century, the literate population jumped from around 40% to over 90% in just half a century. Industry was not just born in the factories either, however in things like marketing and publishing likewise, setting the stage for the work of individuals like the head of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones and the CEO of the company that owns Penguin Random House today. Artists were worked with to figure out what makes a good book cover, decorating beautiful fabric book covers with the most interesting art designs of the day. Even in a time of plenty, books were, and still are, commemorated with the highest renown we can bestow upon them; art.
Books were held up greatest when they represented an uncommon and valuable yet fragile intellectual flame in the dark ages. After the fall of Rome books were preciously secured by those few who could read and write. Monks would invest their lives meticulously copying out the excellent texts of antiquity by hand, and decorated them with reverence befitting a pope. These book cover designs would be made from engraved ivory, laced with rare-earth elements like gold and silver, and studded with the finest gems in the land; nothing was too important for the texts of viewpoint, science, and religion that offered a link to a humanity suggested for more than the difficult, cold life of the time. The next step towards understanding this perfect can be found in the 15th century with the creation of the printing press. Books no longer needed to be copied out by hand so were a lot more easily available, however they were still largely booked for that little section of society that might read – the upper classes. The books themselves were purchased ‘naked’, the pages organized by hand by the printer with no joint or cover. They would then be required to a professional who would bind them in as upscale a cover as the client could manage. This was typically leather, engraved with the initials or coat of arms of the consumer.
For millennia books have impressed, thrilled, and inspired; held in such high esteem that even today their burning or banning is an ominous sign of repression and fascist intent. You might treasure your favourite books like few other things, those most stunning in every sense, from the words within their pages to the beautiful book cover designs that ornately reflect their topic. However, the sensational covers one may find from the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books are not the first to be held in such high regard by any means. Throughout history, books have actually been treasures of the intelligence, however their rare and special qualities implied that they were opulently decorated in a really literal method too.
