Books have play an inconceivably important part in the tale of human history, lets take a look at that story through their cover art.

Books were held up greatest when they represented an uncommon and precious yet delicate intellectual flame in the dark ages. After the fall of Rome books were preciously guarded by those couple of who could read and compose. Monks would invest their lives fastidiously copying out the excellent texts of antiquity by hand, and decorated them with reverence befitting a pope. These book cover designs would be made of engraved ivory, laced with precious metals like gold and silver, and studded with the finest jewels in the land; nothing was too valuable for the texts of approach, science, and faith that offered a link to a mankind indicated for more than the difficult, cold life of the time. The next action towards understanding this ideal can be found in the 15th century with the innovation of the printing press. Books no longer required to be copied out by hand so were far more easily offered, but they were still mostly reserved for that small section of society that might check out - the upper classes. The books themselves were bought 'naked', the pages organized by hand by the printer with no joint or cover. They would then be required to a specialist who would bind them in as wealthy a cover as the customer might afford. This was usually leather, inscribed with the initials or coat of arms of the consumer.

After the renaissance, and especially in the Victorian era, rates of literacy and the curiosity throughout the West blew up. In the 19th century, the literate population leapt from around 40% to over 90% in simply half a century. Industry was not simply born in the factories either, however in things like marketing and publishing likewise, setting the stage for the work of individuals like the head of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones and the CEO of the company that owns Penguin Random House today. Artists were worked with to find out what makes a good book cover, embellishing lovely fabric book covers with the most exciting art designs of the day. Even in a time of plenty, books were, and still are, commemorated with the greatest renown we can bestow upon them; art.

For millennia books have actually amazed, delighted, and motivated; held in such reverence that even today their burning or prohibiting is an ominous sign of repression and fascist intent. You might treasure your preferred books like few other things, those most gorgeous in every sense, from the words within their pages to the beautiful book cover designs that ornately reflect their topic. However, the sensational covers one might discover from the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books are not the very first to be kept in such high regard by any means. Throughout history, books have actually been treasures of the intelligence, but their rare and special qualities meant that they were opulently embellished in a really literal way as well.