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The Ace up a Designer's Sleeve: Cloth Color part 1
For our next two posts, let’s talk about color. Cloth color. It’s one of the three inescapable features of trade bindings from their beginnings in 1820s England through the 1920s, and one of two that continue to this day. The other two are cloth graining, which was seldom done after the 1910s (I’d say never… Continue reading
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Happy Holidays from the Decorative Designers
It’s only a few days until Christmas and, as always at this time of year, our thoughts are turning to seasonal and wintry topics: decorating the house, seeing family, vacation, finding the perfect gift for that strange uncle, being stranded on a train by a blizzard … To celebrate the season, our last post of… Continue reading
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To Autumn: John Keats and Margaret Armstrong
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;” — autumn has come and, unbelievably, is nearly past. Outside it’s overcast with not much of autumn’s characteristic crispness, and only a few leaves remain on the trees. But inside we have a crisp binding to share: The Poetical Works of John Keats,… Continue reading
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Halloween with Lee Thayer
Happy Halloween from the American Trade Bindings Collection at UNCG! After a very busy summer, we’re back with an October pick for you to enjoy as you surreptitiously pilfer candy from your child’s trick or treat bag. Our featured title is The Scrimshaw Millions, by Lee Thayer (New York: Sears Publishing Company, 1932), and is… Continue reading
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New “Finds” (A guest post by Mark Schumacher)
In the last few weeks, we have come across several new illustrators and artists, most of them women, who also contributed to the world of binding design. Most of the books involved are volumes aimed at children—readers, introductions to geography, and tomes of fairy tales or familiar legends, like Robin Hood. Although these designs may… Continue reading
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Kenny's Choice: March Binding of the Month Club
Welcome to the March 2016 Binding of the Month Club!Did you know that the University of North Carolina Greensboro digital projects website is not the only place to view our collection of American trade bindings? If you haven’t discovered them yet, let me encourage you to visit the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) (1).… Continue reading
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Babyhood…it's not for the faint of heart
Sometimes, book covers can just be creepy. A case in point is this book, “Babyhood: Rhymes and Stories, Pictures and Silhouettes for Our Little Ones,” which recently came across my desk. In my opinion, it has a cover that just has to be shared. The artist(s) who prepared the cover is currently unknown to us.… Continue reading
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Hearts Looking at You, Kid: February Binding of the Month Club
The last day of February, in a leap year, has come. The end of the month of love, with Valentine’s Day falling squarely in the middle—there to spread its aura over the days preceding and following. Chocolates and candies; flowers; dinners; cards, of course, some with astonishing sentiments–barrels of pure, sweetened and condensed sentiment; and… Continue reading
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Happy Chinese New Year!
The 2016 Chinese New Year began on Monday, February 8th. The year of the monkey! To celebrate, we’ve prepared a short post featuring monkey bindings. These are not a type of binding that you can hang from a branch by their tail bands. Nor should you attempt to feed one fruits, nuts, or insects of… Continue reading
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