Search results for ""Paperblanks""

William Morris (1834–1896), one of the most celebrated practitioners of the Arts and Crafts Movement, created woven and printed textile designs using the ancient technique of hand woodblock printing. As seen on this pencil case, his evocations of the natural world have become design classics.

Read more less

For the celestially minded and lovers of dark light, we present Nova Stella. This book cover, with its central star shape, exerts an emotional pull like the North Star for nighttime wayfarers. Our Nova Stella cover comes from the 1789 binding of Missale Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum, printed during the Settecento period by Octavio Puccinelli publishers. During this time bookbinding became at once simpler and yet more complex. The sewing was done on recessed cords to give the spines a smooth appearance and so, while the structure of books was uncomplicated, decoration became increasingly elaborate.

Read more less

This 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. With its scope from humour to tragedy and its vivid narrative structure, The Decameron – his defining work – remains an affirmation of humanity and moral values even when read today.

Read more less

This striking Art Deco design comes from the celebrated British bookbinder Sybil Pye (1879–1959). It was crafted to hold a collection of William Wordsworth’s poems illustrated by Pye’s lifelong friend Thomas Sturge Moore. 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.

Read more less

A brilliant 16th-century Cairo workshop is responsible for this journal cover design. Though the name of that atelier has been lost to history, the detailed pattern and fine materials used show why books from the workshop were so highly prized. Today the original binding can be found in the collection of the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Read more less

The eternal appeal of a classic floral design is captured in the work of Irish illustrator William Kilburn (1745–1818). With winding twigs and colourful petals set against an inky black background, this Floralia pencil case design is emblematic of Kilburn’s ability to blend local and exotic flora into a harmonious pattern.

Read more less

Among the finest poets America has ever produced, Emily Dickinson lived a life of quiet solitude. A master of the short lyric poem, her eccentric preoccupation with death and immortality permeated many of her greatest works. It is Dickinson’s handwritten draft of “I died for beauty – but was scarce” that we have reproduced for this journal cover.

Read more less

Nobility and grace are restored in this filigreed design. Originally crafted in 1675 by the Queens’ Binder “A,” the balance of open space and intricate elements make it a shining jewel of the period. The binding reproduced for our Restoration pencil case was designed to hold Richard Allestree’s The Government of the Tongue.

Read more less

In this Polished Pearl journal cover, inspired by an exquisite example of luxury fabric, one sees the absolute perfection of tone, magnificent embroidery and subtly beautiful hues that for which French artisans have become so celebrated. This fine French design has a timeless look of haute couture elegance.

Read more less

More sumptuous than even the finest arrangement, our Van Huysum pencil case is based on a painting by Jan van Huysum. A seduction of the eye and a jolt of passion for the soul, this still life is anything but static. The sturdy design always holds its shape, and the lid flap can fold around to create an open presentation case to showcase the items within.

Read more less

Inside the original 1910 version of this sumptuous binding laid one of the oldest and most effortlessly romantic stories ever written. The gilt and crushed blue levant morocco binding by Émile-Philippe Mercier contained Jacques Amyot’s French translation of the tale Daphnis and Chloe. The original story was composed by the second-century Greek author Longus, a little-known writer assumed to have been a freedman of a Roman family. Daphnis and Chloe were the fictional lovers against whom all others can be measured. Their story was the inspiration for one of contemporary cinema’s most beloved films, The Princess Bride. Daphnis and Chloe were naïve lovers separated by pirate abductions and battles aplenty. But love prevails and in the end they are restored to pastoral, wedded bliss.  

Read more less

Displaying astounding plays of naturalistic illusionism, the luxurious book known as the Spinola Hours is one of the most visually sophisticated 16th-century Flemish manuscripts. A book of hours contains a calendar of Church holidays, the Hours of the Virgin, the Office for the Dead, and other prayers, hymns and readings. The Spinola Hours also includes weekday offices and masses, providing even more possibilities for rich illuminations. The book was commissioned for a wealthy patron, perhaps Margaret of Austria, and in the 1700s it belonged to the Spinola family, for whom it is now named. We are honoured to reproduce this unparalleled example of illumination from the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Read more less

Laurel Burch was a self-taught artist who created brilliantly coloured, vibrant and moving themes with paint and paper, exquisitely embellished with gold and silver. A tribute to the infinite bliss of flowers, this Wild Flowers design symbolizes the blossoming of the spirit as much as the beauty of a lovely garden. With this motif, Laurel’s hope was to speak in the universal language of symbols that touch us all, and her flowers certainly have the ultimate ability to do just that. With a bursting of brilliant wildflower blooms, Laurel’s florals are a never-ending source of happy inspiration and joy.  

Read more less

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.

Read more less

In his Spring painting (1894), Lawrence Alma-Tadema represented the Victorian custom of children collecting flowers on May Day. By placing the scene in ancient Rome, he suggested the festival’s history through architecture, dress, sculpture and instruments. Alma-Tadema incorporated his knowledge of antiquity into over 300 paintings. We are honoured to feature a detail from Spring as part of our collaborative The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection.  

Read more less

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.  

Read more less

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

Read more less

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was a French painter who is regarded as one of the greatest of the post-Impressionists. Often called the “Father of Modern Art,” his works and ideas were influential in the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements. Reproduced here is a work from his later years, Terracotta Pots and Flowers (1891–1892), which saw Cézanne enter a new world of still life painting. This change in pace exemplified his desire for a new form of personal expression as he sought to slow down and draw focus back to the everyday. Terracotta Pots and Flowers showcases Cézanne’s intense study of still life compositions. His works such as this one explored the connections and harmonies between everyday objects. Here he arranges a red cloth, a rum bottle with straw binding and a light blue pitcher with potted geraniums inside the greenhouse at his father’s estate near Aix-en-Provence. We are honoured to featu

Read more less

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was a French painter who is regarded as one of the greatest of the post-Impressionists. Often called the “Father of Modern Art,” his works and ideas were influential in the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements. Reproduced here is a work from his later years, Terracotta Pots and Flowers (1891–1892), which saw Cézanne enter a new world of still life painting. This change in pace exemplified his desire for a new form of personal expression as he sought to slow down and draw focus back to the everyday. Terracotta Pots and Flowers showcases Cézanne’s intense study of still life compositions. His works such as this one explored the connections and harmonies between everyday objects. Here he arranges a red cloth, a rum bottle with straw binding and a light blue pitcher with potted geraniums inside the greenhouse at his father’s estate near Aix-en-Provence. We are honoured to featu

Read more less

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

Read more less

Get ready to follow your creative train of thought with Pacifica! Reproducing a gold stamped, dark brown leather binding designed by Alice Cordelia Morse, Pacifica represents a spirit of grand adventure. The original binding was crafted to hold William Seward Webb’s California and Alaska and Over the Canadian Pacific Railway, a well-regarded travelogue first published in 1890. This exquisite edition was produced as a deluxe gift book and was limited to only 500 copies. The copy reproduced here is now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library in New York City. As an artist, Morse maintained the belief that the book designer must take the central idea of the book and creatively depict it on the cover. For this binding, one can imagine her creating train tracks crisscrossing a map, or perhaps even the spokes of a compass, in the gold stamping she patterned. Travel is said to broaden the mind, so it is our hope that our Iron Horse design will inspire your creativity and exp

Read more less

Get ready to follow your creative train of thought with Pacifica! Reproducing a gold stamped, dark brown leather binding designed by Alice Cordelia Morse, Pacifica represents a spirit of grand adventure. The original binding was crafted to hold William Seward Webb’s California and Alaska and Over the Canadian Pacific Railway, a well-regarded travelogue first published in 1890. This exquisite edition was produced as a deluxe gift book and was limited to only 500 copies. The copy reproduced here is now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library in New York City. As an artist, Morse maintained the belief that the book designer must take the central idea of the book and creatively depict it on the cover. For this binding, one can imagine her creating train tracks crisscrossing a map, or perhaps even the spokes of a compass, in the gold stamping she patterned. Travel is said to broaden the mind, so it is our hope that our Iron Horse design will inspire your creativity and expressi

Read more less

Described as the “mise en scène for the romantic drama of American business,” New York City’s Chanin Building was built by Irwin S. Chanin in the late 1920s. Ornately adorned with bronze grilles representing some of the finest Art Deco in the city, the lobby was 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.

Read more less

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.Grayson is an artist who defies the limitations of genre. May his boundless creativity so inspire your own expressions of imagination.

Read more less

This cover is inspired by an original design attributed to Le Gascon, a legendary but little-known 17thcentury 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.If this cover was not created by Le Gascon, it is certainly in his style and was made by another French master. Le Gascon–style bindings first appeared near the end of the reign of Charles IX and were revered for the sophistication and intricacy of their ornamentation. Le Gascon’s fanfare bindings featured gilt decoration that spread out in repeated fanfare patterns, as well as pointillé tooling bordered by bands.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.

Read more less

Let a swirl of turquoise inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover is based on the binding for a book titled Chroniques, published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The exuberance of the design reflects the splendour of the Renaissance approach to decoration. In this green-blue journal cover you may see the intricacies of your own stories.

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.

Read more less

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 here is a piece of beautifully embroidered opera skirt from that era.

Read more less

Laurel Burch was a self-taught artist and “?ower child” who sold handmade jewellery on the streets of San Francisco in the 1960s. From her fertile imagination, she created brilliantly coloured, vibrant and moving themes with paint and paper, exquisitely embellished with gold and silver. This cover design comes from one of Laurel’s favourite themes – Flutterbyes.

Read more less

This captivating image comes from Andrew Lang’s The Olive Fairy Book. Compiled in 1907 by the Scottish poet and anthropologist Andrew Lang, illustrated by Henry Justice Ford and published under the editorial direction of Lang’s wife, Leonora Alleyne, the book was one in a twelve-part series known as Lang’s Fairy Books (or Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books of Many Colours). Each book in the series was named for the colour of its fairy, and this Olive Fairy notebook reproduces the front cover of that book’s first edition. Upon publication, the books were a sensation among British schoolchildren and were sold all around the world. May the Olive Fairy bring a hint of vintage whimsy to your writings.

Read more less

Michelangelo Buonarroti’s (1475–1564) mind was an incessant battlefield. The opposing forces of religious faith and pagan beauty warred across his consciousness. They also helped spur him to create a pantheon of artistic masterpieces.Considered one of the masters of the Italian Renaissance, over the course of his lifetime he produced the finest frescoes and many of the most revered sculptures in the world. Michelangelo possessed a genius as severe and uncompromising as it was fertile. He was renowned for his fierce solitude, yet was one of the great chroniclers of the human form. His anatomical studies are haunting in their expressiveness and precision, while his tombs, such as those designed for Julius II and the Medicis, inspire wordless awe and perhaps even dread.This letter, written in Michelangelo’s own hand, demonstrates with every stroke of the pen the refinement and passion of one of the greatest artists humanity has produced. And with the Sistine Chapel’s The Creation of Adam featured on the back cover, the point of creation beautifully bookends this Embellished Manuscript notebook.

Read more less

Luxuriate in the brass and regal blue tones of this Blue Luxe cover design. The original book, crafted in the heart of Amsterdam in 1715, was bound in goatskin with elaborate gold tooling. Contained inside the volume was the Oratio Dominica (Lord’s Prayer) in almost 150 languages and dialects, compiled by English courtier John Chamberlayne, creating a document of global appeal.The intricate details of this design reflect the tapestry of cultures in its original pages. The translations spanned from Europe and Asia to Arabia, Persia, Syria and Turkey. Chamberlayne, who was a writer and translator, spoke 16 languages himself.Let the many cultures that once lived within this 18th-century binding inspire you against Blue Luxe’s opulent backdrop.

Read more less

William Morris (1834–1896) was one of the most celebrated practitioners of the Arts and Crafts movement. He embraced the ideal of craftspeople taking pride in their personal handiwork, as opposed to the dehumanizing onslaught of the Industrial Revolution’s mass production techniques. He famously said that any decoration is futile when it does not remind you of something beyond itself.Morris specialized in the ancient technique of hand woodblock printing to create his textile patterns and sought inspiration for his famous repeating patterns from the natural world and the decorative artists before him. The influence of “millefleurs” tapestries, early prints of herbs and the abundance of exquisite detail in medieval art can be appreciated in his works. His evocations of antique florals and plants have become classics of the decorative arts and were an early inspiration for our journal designs, gracing our covers from the very beginning.

Read more less

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.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, including The Importance of Being Earnest. Today, he is remembered as one of the most influential writers of the Victorian era.

Read more less

Behold the majesty of the ancient cathedral of Ely! This striking notebook design comes from the 1830 cover of James Bentham’s The History and Antiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral Church of Ely, an exactingly crafted ode to the magnificence of the cathedral and the ancient curiosities held within its walls.Ely’s rich history begins with the Anglo-Saxon princess Saint Ethelreda, who founded a monastic community in the Cambridgeshire Fens in 673 ad. Over the centuries, the original abbey was built, destroyed and rebuilt in various forms, with today’s cathedral beginning construction in 1083. With architect George Gilbert Scott at the helm, the Ely Cathedral underwent restorations between 1845 and 1870, rebuilding the galilee porch, lady chapel and choir in an exuberant Decorated Gothic style.With such a rich artistic and spiritual history, it is no wonder that the cathedral would inspire James Bentham to dedicate his life’s work to documenting its artifacts. We are honoured to work with the Bodleian Library to celebrate Bentham’s passion project.

Read more less

This bookmark features the image of an antique 19th-century Japanese lacquer box. Lacquerware is created by painting tree sap onto treasured objects to protect and enhance them, showcasing the uniquely human ability to create beauty from unlikely sources.

Read more less

A lifelong artist, Gary Grayson’s affinity for both antique prints and modern graphic design is on display in the digital artwork behind this bookmark. His distinctive style is an eclectic mix of vintage vector, impressionism and pop art.

Read more less

Let a swirl of turquoise inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover design is based on the binding for a book titled Chroniques, originally published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The exuberance of the design reflects the 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 see the intricacies of your own stories.

Read more less

Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) was a Lebanese American writer, poet and artist. He is most famous for his great work, The Prophet – one of the bestselling books of all time. The Prophet, a collection of 26 prose poetry fables, is thematically similar to the theological musings of William Blake, Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, while also being influenced by traditional Arabic writing and modern surrealism.Since its publication in 1923, The Prophet has been translated into more than 100 languages and has never gone out of print. Reproduced for our cover is one of Gibran’s handwritten English drafts of the work, currently held at Princeton University Library’s Special Collections, Manuscripts Division.

Read more less

Vincent van Gogh was one of the great Post-Impressionist painters. After admitting himself to the Saint-Paul Asylum following a severe mental health crisis, he recuperated by painting the asylum’s garden. We are honoured to partner with Getty to bring Van Gogh’s stirring Irises study to our collection.

Read more less

This delicate foliage pattern was originally crafted to adorn a 17th-century binding of the Passion Series. The original work was created in 1521 by the northern Renaissance painter Lucas van Leyden, one of the greatest engravers of his time.This edition does not contain Van Leyden’s 1521 version, but rather a copy of it done by Jan Harmensz. Muller, an artist best known for his skillful reinterpretations of the work of his predecessors. So exactly replicated were his engravings, that Van Leyden’s original dates and monogram appear in Muller’s woodcut plates. Though there is no indication that Muller himself attempted to pass off his work as that of the earlier master, scratched-out marks in this edition suggest that previous owners tried to make it appear as though they owned an original Van Leyden. It is only thanks to a small engraving of Muller’s name that we know this is a reproduction.With a complicated history not unlike the tangled branches depicted on the cover, this Tree of Life binding stands out amongst the British Library’s collection of antique tomes.

Read more less

Let a swirl of turquoise inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover design is based on the binding for a book titled Chroniques, originally published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The exuberance of the design reflects the 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 see the intricacies of your own stories.

Read more less

Reproducing an original work by designer Pierre Legrain (1889–1929), this cover brings a sense of movement to the heavy geometric elements of its Art Deco influence.Legrain was a key figure in early 20th-century French bookbinding. After leaving the French Army in 1916, Legrain became recognized for his eye for design and was commissioned by Jacques Doucet, a French bibliophile and collector, to create unique bindings for Doucet’s impressive library. Adopting an attitude of experimentation, Doucet encouraged Legrain to be “freely inspired by contemporary artists’ vibrantly coloured mosaics, bold play with geometric forms and straight-lined bands.”

Read more less

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.Grayson is an artist who defies the limitations of genre. May his boundless creativity so inspire your own expressions of imagination.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

This 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. With its scope from humour to tragedy and its vivid narrative structure, The Decameron – his defining work – remains an affirmation of humanity and moral values even when read today.

Read more less