From leather bound volumes to advertised mass-produced paperbacks, this is what book covers are saying.
Books are beautiful things, both inside and out. One might believe that this is a little a twist of fate, however one can quickly see how both are connected, especially when we cast back into the early eras of literacy, when books in their existing format, the codex, was off to something of a rocky start. In the medieval time period, books were exceptionally uncommon things. The literacy rate completely plunged after the collapse of the Roman Empire, and some of the only individuals who had the ability to read or write were those who devoted themselves to a monastic life. Monks would invest years transcribing the fantastic books of antiquity out by hand, and these rare treasures were then supplied protective covers that would be embellished in extraordinarily rich and exceptionally beautiful book cover designs. Ivory, gems, precious metals, nothing was too grand for those precious stories and works of understanding. People like the co-CEO of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones can probably value how cherished these early tomes would have been to people living through a really dark age.
Books have long been a sign of intellectual accomplishment, specifically big leather bound tomes lining the office of a powerful or prosperous person. This is something that dates back to the arrival of printing in the fifteenth century, when, following the intellectual dark ages of the preceding millennium, books began to become a lot more accessible and more people had the ability to read. Obviously, it was usually the wealthier classes that had this privilege, and they would not merely stroll into a bookshop to buy what took their fancy. They would get the pages of their book from the printers with a short-term seam, and after that take it to a specialist binder who would bind it with leather and include creative book cover designs if the client desired. Individuals like the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in WHSmith will appreciate the enduring gravitas useful link of these type of covers.
We are living in a moment when everything is embellished to catch your eye, hoping that its picked audience will get it. Books are no different, and contemporary book covers actually go back to the Victorian Era and the arrival of advertising. Artists were hired to figure out what makes a good book cover for different sort of books, with ornate fabric book covers embellishing high-brow literary affairs and pulpy paperbacks decorating less artistic books. Today, you will still probably discover that low-brow novels like crime thrillers will most likely go straight to paperback with cover art that isn't particularly special. People like the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books will comprehend the heritage of modern cover art.