It's what's outside that counts

December 7, 2010 10:01 AM

For more than one hundred years, the Guild of Bookworkers has been judging books by some pretty amazing covers.
posted by Horace Rumpole (6 comments total)

Coptic-Bound Pepsi Blue?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 10:07 AM on December 7, 2010

Shelving these things is a nightmare! Will no one think of the preservationists?

Seriously, though, these things are pretty amazing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:22 AM on December 7, 2010

High art/craft bookbinding is one of those things that both produces beautiful objects, and leaves me incredibly grateful that everyone in the western world didn't just go the easy route and adopt mass produced convenience items during the 20th century.

There is very real, if somewhat intangible, value in holding something in your hands that you know someone else took immense care to make with theirs.

Thanks Horace for a good few moments of joy in gazing upon beauty.
posted by Ahab at 10:41 AM on December 7, 2010

Look away from these, Guild of Bookworkers!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:58 AM on December 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yay, my peeps! Thanks for this, Horace! :D
posted by dendritejungle at 2:47 PM on December 7, 2010

Thanks Horace, it's awesome to see the Guild on the Blue!

If anyone is near Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the Marking Time exhibit is up in the main library right now, and the public is welcome to see it. I was fortunate enough to be able to help set it up, and the books are just amazing.
posted by clockbound at 4:22 PM on December 7, 2010