Old Book Covers

Don’t you just love old books?  At All Things New Store, we specialize in the rare, hard to find old books.  I just love the smell, the feel and the look of the older, vintage books. 

Now, newer books, especially those after 1950, tend to have Dust Jackets (otherwise known in the book world as a DJ).  Although dust jackets were used well before that time period, they became more popular as a way to preserve the integrity of the book cover. The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations.The dust covers serve as just that, a cover to keep the dust and light off of the cover of the book, to help keep it nice.  The only problem is that generally, the dust jacket ends up getting torn and raggedy, taking away from the overall appearance of the book.   

Our latest collection that we have added to our All Things New Store is a series of Wizard of Oz books.

The Road to Oz, published in 1909 and a 1^st edition, is the oldest in our collection and the rarest. The book cover is a light green cloth with dark green, black and red stamping.

Several of these books have what is called a “pictorial color label” pasted down on front cover. The old book covers are magnificent. The pictorial color label is a full color picture that is pasted to the front of the old book cover. It is so much more attractive and more real in color and depth. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918) features this type of book cover. It stands out more and captures the eye better than the stamped book cover of The Road to Oz.

You can see the pictorial color label pasted down on The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926), with its vibrant colors and its antique look. The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926) also fashioned a dust jacket as well, but as you can see, the DJ has undergone significant wear. I suppose, however, it saved the old book cover from the same damage, thus performing its duty.

 Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz (1939) also features the pictorial color label pasted down on the book cover. Again, you will notice the vibrant colors and eye catching picture.

In contrast to the old book covers, in the later years you see the pictures printed right on the book cover, as seen on Merry Go Round in Oz (1963). This is the 40th and last of the official OZ books. The first edition, the so-called “white edition,” is the rarest book in the series in its original printings.

 For more comparison of old book covers, visit us at www.allthingsnewstore.com