One thing an ebook doesn’t have is a book jacket. According to Book Patrol, a new book has been released with the above title about this very subject:
Those interested in this important part of book history will enjoy G. Thomas Tanselle’s new book Book-Jackets: Their History, Forms, and Use. The book provides:
A concise history both of publishers’ detachable book coverings (primarily British and American) and of the attention they have received from scholars, dealers, collectors, and librarians. It also surveys their use by publishers (as protective devices and advertising media) and their usefulness to scholars of literature, art, and book history (as sources for biography, bibliography, cultural analysis, and the development of graphic design).
Though it leans scholarly the book provides a thorough history of a books most valuable friend and can easily prove useful for the bookseller, book collector or any lover of books. The book also includes a 100+ page listing of surviving pre-1901 examples.
More info in the article.
