Search results for ""PAPERBLANKS""

Picnics, summer holidays and lashings of ginger beer… it’s hard not to picture the stories of Enid Blyton when thinking of these nostalgic moments. A prolific writer, Blyton penned over 700 books and thousands of short stories that captured an idyllic childhood full of adventure in the countryside. A common theme in Blyton’s writing is the atmospheric representation of life in a rural landscape. Though her works spanned multiple genres, it was stories that focused on family that were her favourite to write. One of Blyton’s most popular works was The Famous Five, a series of children’s adventure stories that centre around a group of four cousins – Julian, Dick, Anne and George – and George’s dog, Timmy. Reproduced here are the illustrations from the covers of two books in the series, Five on a Treasure Island and Five on Finniston Farm. These classic images are the works of Eileen Soper, whose illustrations bring the wonderfully nostalgic

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This fiery Baroque-inspired cover comes from a 1725 binding of The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, a masterpiece of Italian literature. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) was an Italian writer and poet who helped lay the foundations of Renaissance humanism. His defining work, The Decameron, is a collection of novellas, each narrated by one of ten main characters who find shelter from the Black Death in a secluded villa just outside Florence in 1348. With its scope from humour to tragedy and its vivid narrative structure, The Decameron remains an affirmation of humanity and moral values even when read today.  

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Showcasing silk dyed with beni (the pigment extracted from safflower petals) and lacquered in gold, this kimono design dates to the Edo period (1615–1868). It was originally used as a costume for the theatrical style known as Noh. Karaori refers specifically to the exquisitely embroidered woman’s kimono that traditional Noh theatre was known for. Both the material itself and the pattern depicted would have helped tell the story of the character. In this case, the stiff brocade creates a thick, glossed fabric that would not drape easily – this created an angular effect evoking the spirit of a noblewoman. The pattern of flowering grasses emphasized the character’s femininity. By the Meiji period (1868–1912) Noh had reached such heights that it was widely introduced overseas, and today there are still more than 70 Noh theatres throughout Japan. This beautiful example of karaori costuming can now be found at the Art Institute of Chicago. It is our great pleasu

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With its intricate flying buttresses and ornate religious sculptures, the Duomo di Milano represents the pinnacle of Italian Gothic architecture. The drawing recreated here is part of a series proposed by the architect Paolo Cesa Bianchi (1840–1920) for the decoration of the interior vaults of the Milan Cathedral. In the 19th century there were many architects, each with their own unique vision, who submitted design proposals such as this. The submission by Bianchi, crafted in 1881, centres around the use of arabesques, which create a sense of a faux relief arborescence over a golden background. The design proposals of these architects, carefully preserved in the Archive of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, allow us to discover an unprecedented Cathedral, the one imagined by architects of the past and then, for various reasons, never built. We are honoured to partner with Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano to bring this example of sublime architectural vision to new

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In his Spring painting (1894), Lawrence Alma-Tadema represented the Victorian custom of sending children to collect flowers on the morning of May 1, or May Day. By placing the scene in ancient Rome, he suggested the festival’s great antiquity through architectural details, dress, sculpture and musical instruments based on Roman originals. Alma-Tadema’s curiosity about the ancient world was insatiable, and he incorporated his knowledge into over 300 paintings of ancient archaeological and architectural design. In later years, his large panoramic depictions of Greek and Roman life caught the attention of Hollywood. The set design of certain scenes in Cecil B. DeMille’s film Cleopatra (1934) was inspired by this painting. We are honoured to feature a detail from Spring as part of our collaborative The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection.  

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This design pays tribute to an 18th-century binding that housed the Khamsa, a seminal work by Persian Sunni Muslim poet Nizami Ganjavi (c. 1141–1209). Featuring intricate floral detail, our Layla cover design beautifully mirrors the contents of the original volume. Considered the greatest romantic poet in Persian literature and described as a “creator of poetic scenes,” Nizami brought a colloquial and otherworldly quality to the Persian epic. His best-known work, the Khamsa (also known in English as the Five Treasures), is a series of five long narrative poems. The first of these, Makhzan-ol-Asrâr, was influenced by Sanai Ghaznavi’s The Walled Garden of Truth, an early Sufi book of mystical poetry. The four other poems are medieval romances. His tragic story of star-crossed lovers Layla and Majnun has famously inspired many contemporary artists with its theme of unrequited love. The delicately adorned cover of this Layla journal, the second title in our Pe

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Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), a Spanish architect from Catalonia, was one of the greatest pioneers of 19th-century architecture. Gaudí’s works have a highly individualized style, defined by his unique compositions, organic shapes and kaleidoscopic designs. They transcend not only mainstream Modernism, but traditional art forms. Perhaps Gaudí’s most-loved contribution to his city of Barcelona is Park Güell, a vibrant garden filled with his art. Reproduced here is a section of a mosaic sun on the ceiling of the park’s Hypostyle Room, alongside the abstract lines from his chimney pots at the Casa Milà building. Gaudí’s last work of civic architecture, Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera) represented a break with the conventions of his day, designed as a totally undulating building with a beating heart like a living being. Gaudí’s fascination with the geometry of nature stemmed from his deep religious dev

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Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were pioneers in the field of folklore, collecting stories through Germany’s rich oral tradition in order to preserve a history that might otherwise have been lost forever. In doing so, they popularized some of today’s most enduring fairy tales. “The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry” was the first tale in the 1812 edition of Grimms’ Fairy Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen). It tells the story of a spoiled princess who reluctantly befriends a frog who, unbeknownst to her, is actually a prince under a sorcerer’s spell. In the original tale, the curse is lifted when the princess throws the frog against a brick wall in anger, but in later years the Brothers Grimm sanitized the story, turning it into the tale we know today. The Grimms’ impact was so profound that it is hard to imagine a world without these stories as they continue to be passed down through generations. We are honoured to reproduce this manuscript from the Bodmer

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New York City is home to an endless number of famed landmarks and tourist attractions, including the eye-catching skyscrapers that punctuate the city skyline.Described in an original brochure as the “mise en scène for the romantic drama of American business,” one such tower is the Chanin Building. This midtown Manhattan landmark was built by developer Irwin S. Chanin in the late 1920s and its magnificent lobby is a major draw for architecture aficionados. Ornately adorned with bronze grilles representing some of the finest Art Deco in the city, the lobby was modernly styled around a “City of Opportunity” concept. One of these ventilator grilles, with loops, spirals and geometric lines symbolizing human thought and emotion, is reproduced here.The Chanin Building’s exuberant craftsmanship led it to be designated a city landmark in 1978 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its uniquely New York City take on the Art Deco style is just one of many reasons to pay attention to the architectural achievements lining the city’s streets.

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Let a swirl of turquoise amid gilt embellishment inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover design is based on a binding originally published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The tome, Chroniques, was created at a time when books were evolving and binders were using smaller formats that were easier to bind. Pasteboards replaced wood covers and gold tooling grew in popularity.The exuberance of the Chroniques design reflects the sheer splendour of the Renaissance approach to decoration that influenced architecture, art and all facets of cultural life. In the glittering green-blue of this cover you may well see the intricacies of your own stories or the infinite possibilities of the written word. At minimum, we hope that Turquoise Chronicles will make you think of Paris, which has for centuries been a centre for art and publishing and a beacon of culture.

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More sumptuous than even the finest arrangement, our Van Huysum journal cover is based on a painting by Jan van Huysum (1682–1749). Van Huysum is perhaps the greatest master of that most revered subject in the Dutch artistic canon: the flower. A seduction of the eye and a jolt of passion for the soul, this still life is anything but static.

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Unheralded wildflowers and weeds are given a voice in our Vox Botanica series, featuring the work of celebrated Art Nouveau illustrator Anton Seder.Seder (1850–1916) was a designer, art professor and eventual Director of the noted Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts School) in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. With the region at that time hotly contested by both France and Germany, the art scene that arose offered a unique marriage of cultures. Influences from both countries, along with Victorian, Baroque and even Japanese woodblock elements, can thus be seen in Seder’s work.This particular piece, originally chromolithograph on paper, comes from one of his best-known works, Die Pflanze in Kunst und Gewerbe, or The Plant in Art and Trade. Published in Vienna in 1890, it offers two volumes of stunning prints gracefully depicting elements of nature. Seder’s harmonious use of space, plethora of details and candid depiction of natural elements drew us to this piece. With this series, we herald Seder’s unique voice and vision for his plants in a new era of art and trade.

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Unheralded wildflowers and weeds are given a voice in our Vox Botanica series, featuring the work of celebrated Art Nouveau illustrator Anton Seder (1850–1916).This particular piece, originally chromolithograph on paper, comes from one of his best-known works, Die Pflanze in Kunst und Gewerbe, or The Plant in Art and Trade. Published in Vienna in 1890, it offers two volumes of stunning prints gracefully depicting elements of nature. Seder’s harmonious use of space, plethora of details and candid depiction of natural elements drew us to this piece. With this series, we herald Seder’s unique voice and vision for his plants in a new era of art and trade.

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This stately gold-tooled design comes from a unique 1990s binding crafted by book conservator Scott Husby, who pulled together fragments from the early 1800s to create a beautiful new cover for this copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio. Originally published in 1623 in London and containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (known as the First Folio) is one of the most influential books ever published. It is the only reliable text for nearly 20 of Shakespeare’s plays, 18 of which had previously never been printed, including The Tempest and Twelfth Night.Today, there are only 235 surviving copies, from approximately 750 printed. Due to its influence and scarcity, the First Folio is one of the most valuable printed books in the world, with one being sold at auction in 2001 for over $6 million. The Folger Shakespeare Library itself holds 82 copies of the First Folio in their collection. We are honoured to introduce this beautiful and unique binding as our first reproduction from the Library’s unparalleled collection.

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William Morris (1834–1896) was one of the most celebrated practitioners of the Arts and Crafts movement. In creating woven and printed textile patterns Morris chose to work with the ancient technique of hand woodblock printing, finding inspiration for his famous repeating patterns in the natural world around him: “millefleurs” tapestries and early prints of herbs as well as the crispness and abundance of exquisite detail in medieval art. His evocations of antique florals and plants in all their profusion, depth of tone and magical gradation of tints have become design classics gracing the decorative arts, including our book cover.

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This striking Art Deco design comes from the British bookbinder Sybil Pye (1879–1959), heralded as one of the top female artisans of her time.Self-taught, Pye began producing her first works in the early 1900s using naturally coloured leather, before graduating to multi-coloured panels. By 1934 she was creating complex covers of up to six different inlays, and her work was regularly exhibited throughout England and around the world.This particular design was crafted to hold a collection of William Wordsworth’s poems illustrated by Pye’s lifelong friend Thomas Sturge Moore. Though we can’t be sure that Pye intended to evoke the image of a lion’s majestic head with this cover, the possibility offers an interesting connection between the binding and its original contents, as one of Wordsworth’s poems is titled “Picture of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, at Hamilton Place.”One of the youngest pre–First World War women binders, Pye was the only binder in England who specialized in inlaid leather bindings. With this series, we pay tribute to a pioneering woman in the art of book design.

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Unheralded wildflowers and weeds are given a voice in our Vox Botanica series, featuring the work of celebrated Art Nouveau illustrator Anton Seder.Seder (1850–1916) was a designer, art professor and eventual Director of the noted Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts School) in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. With the region at that time hotly contested by both France and Germany, the art scene that arose offered a unique marriage of cultures. Influences from both countries, along with Victorian, Baroque and even Japanese woodblock elements, can thus be seen in Seder’s work.This particular piece, originally chromolithograph on paper, comes from one of his best-known works, Die Pflanze in Kunst und Gewerbe, or The Plant in Art and Trade. Published in Vienna in 1890, it offers two volumes of stunning prints gracefully depicting elements of nature. Seder’s harmonious use of space, plethora of details and candid depiction of natural elements drew us to this piece. With this series, we herald Seder’s unique voice and vision for his plants in a new era of art and trade.

Read more less

This glorious design comes from Sangorski & Sutcliffe, a world-renowned British bindery best known for their bejewelled cover of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat.Established in London in 1901, Sangorski & Sutcliffe quickly rose to become one of the 20th century’s most important bookbinders. They were celebrated for their jewelled bindings, like the one reproduced here. Crafted in 1922 to house Rudyard Kipling’s 1897 “Recessional” poem, written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, the original binding incorporated real turquoise, aquamarine and ruby gemstones, alongside medieval-style illumination by Alberto Sangorski and gold tooling by George Sutcliffe.In the late 1980s, Sangorski & Sutcliffe was acquired by Asprey, joining forces with Zaehnsdorf under the SSZ umbrella. But the family name was restored in 1998 when Shepherds Bookbinders bought the company. It is an honour to work with such a luxurious bookbinding and to share the legacy of Sangorski & Sutcliffe with 21st-century stationery lovers and bibliophiles.

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A man as tormented as he was beloved, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) overcame a life of extraordinary ups and downs to become a world-renowned playwright, author and poet. He stands as one of the most influential writers of the Victorian era.Wilde’s work is fraught with the insights of a man who possessed a deep understanding of both the positives and perils of society. Criticized for what was perceived as an “effeminate nature” and oppressed by a largely homophobic world, Wilde remained resilient. He used his experiences to form brilliant, if controversial, literary works.The comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, a draft of which is reproduced here, was a great success upon opening but saw its run cut short when Wilde was imprisoned for “gross indecency.” This represented one of the first famous celebrity trials but was, sadly, only one of many persecutions of a member of the LGBTQ community for a consensual act. We first released this Embellished Manuscript in 2010, and this season we bring it back in celebration of Wilde’s literary legacy and personal perseverance.

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Our Enigma journal is inspired by a cover said to have been designed by Le Gascon, a legendary but little-known 17th-century bookbinder. Le Gascon was the inventor of the "pointillé" and "fanfare" styles, and his influence is felt throughout the rich bookbinding history that follows him.The original cover was made of red morocco leather embossed and gilded with rosettes, spirals and dotted lines. It also featured Le Gascon’s emblematic small compartments which were created by carving ridges into the leather. No matter who created the original binding, our cover pays homage to its consummate artistry and visionary design.

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Tiptoe through the tulips with us as we discover the vibrantly detailed gardens of Gary Grayson’s artistic world.A lifelong artist, Grayson’s affinity for both antique prints and modern graphic design is on display in the digital artworks behind our Nature Montages series. His distinctive style is an eclectic mix of vintage vector, impressionism and pop art – all combined to create a layered and vibrant world. Here, butterflies and birds invite you to explore the garden together, and the bursting blooms bring promises of warm summer days.A native of Arlington, Texas, Grayson takes inspiration from a wide variety of sources. A fan of everything from Puccini to NASCAR, he is an artist who defies the limitations of genre. May his boundless creativity so inspire your own expressions of imagination.

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Showcasing silk dyed with beni (the pigment extracted from safflower petals) and lacquered in gold, this kimono design dates to the Edo period (1615–1868). It was originally used as a costume for the theatrical style known as Noh.Karaori refers specifically to the exquisitely embroidered woman’s kimono that traditional Noh theatre was known for. Both the material itself and the pattern depicted would have helped tell the story of the character. In this case, the stiff brocade creates a thick, glossed fabric that would not drape easily – this created an angular effect evoking the spirit of a noblewoman. The pattern of flowering grasses emphasized the character’s femininity.By the Meiji period (1868–1912) Noh had reached such heights that it was widely introduced overseas, and today there are still more than 70 Noh theatres throughout Japan. This beautiful example of karaori costuming can now be found at the Art Institute of Chicago. It is our great pleasure to work with such a gorgeous and culturally important piece of history to craft this journal design.

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Let a swirl of turquoise amid gilt embellishment inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover design is based on a binding originally published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The tome, Chroniques, was created at a time when books were evolving and binders were using smaller formats that were easier to bind. Pasteboards replaced wood covers and gold tooling grew in popularity.The exuberance of the Chroniques design reflects the sheer splendour of the Renaissance approach to decoration that influenced architecture, art and all facets of cultural life. In the glittering green-blue of this cover you may well see the intricacies of your own stories or the infinite possibilities of the written word. At minimum, we hope that Turquoise Chronicles will make you think of Paris, which has for centuries been a centre for art and publishing and a beacon of culture.

Read more less

Photographer Gérard Degeorge has travelled the world, capturing grand pieces of architectural design through the scope of his lens. We have frequently turned to his celebrated photography collection for previous releases, and return once more for this Moorish Mosaic cover.We first came upon this design while browsing Degeorge’s vast collection of photographic slides, and it immediately reminded us of visiting the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Alhambra is adorned in tile mosaics set around a theme of “paradise on earth.” Though we cannot be absolutely certain where the unique piece of tilework on our cover originates, the geometric pattern, floral design and arabesque setting are all suggestive of the art and architecture styles found in the western Islamic world.Through the centuries, Islamic artists have led the way in inlay artistry, creating intricate and memorable pieces like the one reproduced here. It is our hope that our Moorish Mosaic will transport you to an earthly paradise.

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Vincent van Gogh was one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionist painters, though he experienced much turmoil in his personal life. After admitting himself to the Saint-Paul Asylum following a severe mental health crisis, Van Gogh began his recuperation by painting the asylum garden, notably its irises. We are honoured to feature this seminal painting from the J. Paul Getty Museum in our collection.

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Our Safavid Indigo design reproduces a leather filigree pattern incorporating handtooled motifs, retaining the elegance and style of the Islamic Golden Age even in our modern context. Originally released in a classic brown leather look, this new deep blue colour scheme pays tribute to the darkest tone of Persian Blue.

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This lovely, organic pattern comes from the illustrious carpet-making traditions of the Moldavian people. The earliest known Moldavian carpets can be dated to the late 18th century, though archaeological findings suggest the craft tradition goes back to the 14th- and 15th-century weaving mills of the Moldavian countryside. By mixing ideals of beauty and harmony with folk mysticism and mythology, Moldavian craftspeople elevate everyday carpets to works of spiritual and cultural expression. This particular design comes from a contemporary rug manufacturer, Floare Carpet, who design their floor coverings in the traditional ways.

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Ancient spiritual practices meet modern digital art in this kaleidoscopic journal cover featuring the work of Android Jones. His art asks the viewer to focus on the potential for awakening, the power of the ancient third eye and the early reverberations of the time that lies before us.With colours at once psychedelic and hyper-modern, and imagery that combines Eastern iconography and a cutting-edge science fiction aesthetic, Jones is an artist who draws on old traditions and those yet to be born. Jones calls himself a digital painter and is renowned for his multidimensional, spiritually driven art and performances and the expanded states of consciousness they evoke. Whether one fancies him a shaman of pop art or a practitioner of electro-mineralism, at the centre of his art is a sense of untapped potential and limitless imagination.With this journal, we invite to you to push the boundaries of perception and awaken to the possibilities of your own third eye.

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During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), the Emperor Taizong founded an opera school called Liyuan (Pear Garden). Chinese opera reached its pinnacle under the Qing court (1644–1911), giving birth to what is known as Peking Opera. Reproduced for this colourful hardcover journal is a piece of beautifully embroidered opera skirt from that era.

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Before Dutch still life painting developed, artists illuminated handwritten manuscripts to add emotional power to a written work. A celebrated practitioner of this style was Joris Hoefnagel. Reproduced for our Flemish Rose journal cover is a page he illuminated for the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, a mid-16th-century manuscript by Georg Bocskay.

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Our Blue Velvet softcover Flexi notebook design is inspired by a piece of a 15th-century velvet dalmatic. It is decorated in brocaded gilt metal thread with a seven-lobed shield, an artichoke-like botanical shape and tiny floral patterns. Creating a velvet design such as this would have been a painstaking procedure, making this a luxury fabric during the Renaissance.

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Our Blue Velvet softcover Flexi notebook design is inspired by a piece of a 15th-century velvet dalmatic. It is decorated in brocaded gilt metal thread with a seven-lobed shield, an artichoke-like botanical shape and tiny floral patterns. Creating a velvet design such as this would have been a painstaking procedure, making this a luxury fabric during the Renaissance.

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Before Dutch still life painting developed, artists illuminated handwritten manuscripts to add emotional power to a written work. A celebrated practitioner of this style was Joris Hoefnagel. Reproduced for our Flemish Rose journal cover is a page he illuminated for the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, a mid-16th-century manuscript by Georg Bocskay.

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Before Dutch still life painting developed, artists illuminated handwritten manuscripts to add emotional power to a written work. A celebrated practitioner of this style was Joris Hoefnagel. Reproduced for our Flemish Rose journal cover is a page he illuminated for the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, a mid-16th-century manuscript by Georg Bocskay.

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Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish and naturalized French scientist known for her pioneering research on radioactivity. Seemingly contradicting the principle of energy conservation, her discoveries forced a reconsideration of the foundation of physics. For this journal we have reproduced a page from one of Marie’s laboratory notebooks.

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Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became a leading abolitionist and social reformer. When too ill to continue his speaking engagements, he wrote letters of support for the anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells to take his place. With this journal cover, we celebrate the legacies of two of the most revered leaders in African American history.

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The Musée Condé is home to over 1500 antique manuscripts, including Eusebius’ Evangelica praeparatione. What makes the 1540s edition so special is that it is the “editio princeps,” or first printing, of the Evangelica, which had existed only as a manuscript. Its regal binding is reproduced for this Evangeline journal cover.

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The Musée Condé is home to over 1500 antique manuscripts, including Eusebius’ Evangelica praeparatione. What makes the 1540s edition so special is that it is the “editio princeps,” or first printing, of the Evangelica, which had existed only as a manuscript. Its regal binding is reproduced for this Evangeline journal cover.

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The kimono pattern that inspired this Hishi softcover Flexi notebook was originally a woodblock print created by Japanese art publishers for theatrical costumes. This genre of artwork, known as “ukiyo-e,” dates to the Edo period (1603–1868), and this particular design was created sometime during the early 1900s.

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Our Wordscapes Flexi softcover notebook, recreating a work by Catrin Welz-Stein, suggests the creative process of the mind’s mysterious inner workings. One can see influences and elements of children’s literature, surrealism and folklore in this image that is suggestive of our deeper natures, inviting you to enter your own Wordscapes within the book.

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Our Golden Trefoil design is inspired by a 16th-century French binding that originally housed a printing of the Opera Omnia of Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503). The design, thought to be created by Claude de Picques, features a classic trefoil (clover) motif, popularly found in some of the world’s most iconic logos, crests, insignias and flags.

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Discover Gary Grayson’s vibrantly detailed gardens in this Moon Garden journal design. A lifetime artist, Grayson’s affinity for both antique prints and modern graphic design is on display in this book cover. Grayson is an artist who defies the limitations of genre. May his boundless creativity so inspire your own expressions of imagination.

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Our Arabic Artistry journal cover design dates to the 17th century, when luxurious Arabic court life helped to inspire a supremely refined design aesthetic. The original binding our Zahra book cover reproduces is emblematic of an era when books were major investments, used as valuable donations, treasured gifts to heads of state and status symbols.

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Our Aurelia journal design is fit for a king. Its inspiration dates back to Paris in the mid-18th century and the original binding housed copies of King Louis XV’s procedures for Holy Week. This book design is a marvellous riot of gold-tooled rococo elements, featuring birds, flowers and leaves.

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A man as tormented as he was beloved, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) overcame a life of extraordinary ups and downs to become a world-renowned playwright, author and poet. Oppressed by a largely homophobic world, Wilde remained resilient. He used his experiences to form brilliant, if controversial, literary works, including The Importance of Being Earnest. Today, he is remembered as one of the most influential writers of the Victorian era.

Read more less

Capturing the flavour of Renaissance-style binding at its zenith, this intricately embellished book cover is unique, tactile and so very pleasing to the eye. During this remarkable period in history, manuscripts were renowned for their exquisitely crafted covers made of fine moroccan leather. Brought into Europe via the flourishing trade routes to the Far and Middle East, this style of ornamentation lent a new vibrancy and lightness of design not found in medieval manuscripts.

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Showcasing silk dyed with beni (the pigment extracted from safflower petals) and lacquered in gold, this kimono design dates to the Edo period (1615–1868), when it was used as a costume for the theatrical style known as Noh. Karaori refers specifically to the exquisitely embroidered woman’s kimono that traditional Noh theatre was known for. Both the material itself and the pattern depicted would have helped tell the story of the character.

Read more less

Photographer Gérard Degeorge has travelled the world, capturing grand pieces of architectural design through the scope of his lens. This cover design comes from his vast collection of photography and is reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The geometric pattern, floral design and arabesque setting are all suggestive of the art and architecture styles found in the western Islamic world.

Read more less