Noun
. dust jacket
- a paper jacket for a book; a jacket on which promotional information
is usually printed. Also called book jacket, dust cover, dust wrapper
Most
books printed since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
have them. Unfortunately, there are many books that once had them that
now don't. For the collector of these modern books the dust jacket
represents the Holy Grail of value.
One of the most noted examples is
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's and
Sons, the book is considered by many to be one of the great American
novels. The book's dust jacket, created by the then little-known artist
Francis Cugat, is also considered a high-spot of dust jacket art and
design. To find a copy of the book in today's marketplace that still has
the dust jacket is a rare event. The book itself is somewhat common and
when it turns up usually sells in the $3,000 - $4000 range. But the
book with a dust jacket in good condition - now you're talking $125,000
and up!
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.
Book available here
Re-Covered Books: a cool
gallery of user-created book designs for The Great Gatsby
