Books

We're so often told to avoid judging books by their covers, but plenty of literature has been lucky enough to be wrapped in a dust jacket worthy of the story inside—and some classics have even been given new life when accompanied by new artwork (see the New Directions "New Classics" series). Book covers should accurately lure us inside and we should find ourselves happy to be there.

Art forms inspire one another—photography, film, literature, design and music all draw from one another so it's no wonder that design and literature are often looked at through the same lens.

For many years, the original "dust wrappers" were just that—blank pieces of paper wrapped around books to protect them until they were purchased and immediately discarded afterwards. The first known "designed" dust jacket was created for the 1830 book Friendship's Offering and contained mostly simple text, but it wasn't until the 1920s that modern art-based dust jackets became a more common sight on bookshelves.

Below you'll see some of my books that I love from front to back, inside and out.

-Zack