Publisher's Bindings Online, 1850-1930. A browesable searchable database of artistic book bindings. There are sections on artistic styles: Arts & Crafts, Japonisme, Poster Style. There are sections on specific authors and designers: Sarah Orne Jewett & Sarah Wyman Whitman, Lousia May Alcott, Lafcadio Hearn. There are historical galleries: Booker T. Washington, Women on Books, The Civil War in Fact and Fiction. There is much more. Previously.
posted by OmieWise on May 26, 2011 - 4 comments

Recreating Mills & Boon romance covers, one passionate moment at a time. [more inside]
posted by whimsicalnymph on Mar 15, 2011 - 7 comments

Twenty-four vintage book covers from Portugal
posted by kenko on Oct 16, 2010 - 11 comments

The annual Orbit books survey of Fantasy cover art: Fantasy Art, The Changing Fashion of Urban Fantasy Heroines, Color trends in Dragons, Title Trends and Fonts.
posted by Artw on Aug 23, 2010 - 74 comments

The Art of Penguin Science Fiction is a historical guide to the design of book jackets in the Penguin SF line by James Pardey. But before reading the essay I recommend looking at some of the wonderful cover designs, for example We, Deathworld, Rork!, The Drowned World, Star Maker, The Evolution Man, Fifth Planet and Alternating Currents. They certainly don't make SF book jackets like they used to. All hundred plus covers can also be browsed alphabetically by author. [via The Guardian Books Blog]
posted by Kattullus on May 7, 2009 - 25 comments

The "I Can Read Movies" Series is a set of fake film novelizations, done in 1950's and 1960's illustration style. [via]
posted by piratebowling on Jan 30, 2009 - 20 comments

The Book Cover Archive presents "an archive of book cover designs and designers for the purpose of appreciation and categorization". via
posted by Rumple on Jan 8, 2009 - 9 comments

Good Girl Art is defined as "A cover illustration depicting an attractive young woman, usually in skimpy or form-fitting clothing, and designed for (mild erotic interest)[sic]. There have been several prior posts on pulp fiction cover art (1, 2, 3); this site focuses on the "good girls" usefully organized into categories such as "Swamp Babes", Ringside Jezebels, Crazy!, Vietnam Vixens, and Peeping Toms. via
posted by Rumple on Mar 12, 2008 - 29 comments

The Pelican Project - six decades of Pelican book covers.
posted by dobbs on Jan 31, 2008 - 12 comments

Site for Henry Sene Yee, book designer. Site includes finished pieces and rejected proofs.
posted by dobbs on Dec 24, 2007 - 9 comments

Books judged by covers. Via.
posted by klangklangston on May 1, 2007 - 12 comments

Penguin Books is an all too brief Flickr Photoset of Penguin Book cover designs from decades past. For those interested, this book is highly recommended.
posted by jonson on Oct 24, 2006 - 9 comments

"Covers is dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design."
posted by dobbs on May 24, 2006 - 16 comments

Czech book covers of the 1920s and '30s. Czechoslovakia was an amazingly creative place between the wars, and this Cooper-Hewitt exhibit showcases some of the book covers it produced. Here's an overview and descrption of styles; you can explore them here. I particularly like Sborník Literární skupiny, Jaroslavu Královi k padesátinám, Nejmenší dum, and the work of Karel Teige. (Via wood s lot.)
posted by languagehat on Dec 18, 2004 - 9 comments

Angie was a marked woman , paying her own ransom with a body none could resist.
Someone has spent an incredible amount of time and energy scanning in lesbian pulp fiction covers from the 50's and 60's. An interesting look into what was considered titillating 40 years ago.
posted by patrickje on Jan 8, 2003 - 21 comments