Ditching the Dust Jackets

I’ve been thinking a bit about books lately. Partly because I’ve actually been starting to read them again (I tend to go through phases).

I was musing through my bookshelves this evening, and decided to put all the hard backs on one shelf.  Nearly all of my books are paperbacks (I’m one of those cheapskates who will always wait for the paperback to come out, 6 months or so after the initial hardback release). So the books of mine that are in hard back are all unusual in some way. Looking through them, they’re all either gifts, cookery books or non-fiction books which would never be released as a paperback.

There was something bothering me about seeing all these books together though. Lined up like that, they look a bit… garish. The spines all seem to scream for attention, as if you’re in a bookshop

That’s when an idea struck me: what would it look like if you removed all the dust jackets? Let’s see the books naked:

Much better! It turns out that beneath the dust jackets, books are bound in beautiful, desaturated colours, with neat embossed typography on the spine. Why aren’t all books displayed like this?

It turns out, according to Wikipedia’s entry on dust jackets at least, that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, dust jackets were discarded soon after purchase, as people preferred to show off the actual bookbinding.

I think we should return to these days. Leave the dust jackets, with their marketing-spiel blurbs, for the bookshops – think of them as the adverts you get stuffed inside magazines. When you get a book home, display it as it should be seen – ditch the dust jacket.

Comments

1. SallyF says:

   June 25, 2009 at 8:35 am

   And of course, there are those people who organise them neither by dust jacketlessness, nor size or genre, but in fact by colour! I know – colour – whooda thunk it? But it actually works and looks lovely and would overcome your garishness issue of the covers. However my response to that crazy notion is that it would be a nightmare to actually find the book you need – who memorises the colours of their books? (probably the people who file them by colour…) Exhibits a and b http://www.flickr.com/photos/acranmer/2557035443/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitzi/295804074/
2. James says:

   June 25, 2009 at 8:57 am

   I’ll have that one 7th in from the left back now please
3. Rattle » Rattle’s books, naked says:

   June 25, 2009 at 2:23 pm

   [...] ditching the dust jackets for an explanation of why they’re missing their glossy [...]
4. squaresofwheat.wordpress.com/ says:

   June 25, 2009 at 2:51 pm

   Contrariwise, when you’re used to all old hardback books, the kind you buy secondhand, looking a certain way without their dustjackets (neat and embossed, but rather samey), it’s a joy to find a book with its original clothes on, like a timecapsule. I got Norman Collins’ Bond Street Story delivered in its original dustjacket, and the extra dimension of the jacket design was like another way into the book.
5. Tom Goskar says:

   June 30, 2009 at 3:26 pm

   I spent many years working on and off part time and full time in the secondhand and collectible book trade. Those beautiful bindings underneath the dustwrapper will fade, and look less beautiful in a few years time. That beautiful red binding will become a dull orange… Blacks can become a sad purple…

   There’s also value to consider. If, sometime in the future, you discover that one of your books is worth money (i.e. a first edition) and sought-after, it’ll only be worth a fraction of what it could be if you don’t still have the dustwrapper.

   Personally, I like to take the dustwrapper off and wrap *it* in thick cellophane, protecting it, giving it a glossy finish (especially if it’s a little tired looking), and put it back on the book. It makes old books look new(er).

   Perhaps the compromise is to keep the dustwrappers safely in a folder somewhere, just in case
6. Davida de Hond says:

   July 9, 2009 at 9:36 am

   The next step seems to be the question: organising your books to the next level on the practical theme/category way or just go wild and go for the esthetic look and put them on a nice colour scheme?
   .. Well.. books.. never a dull moment; with or without the dust jackets.
7. Rusty Wright says:

   September 9, 2009 at 3:57 am

   You know you’re really cheap when you don’t even wait for the paperback but wait for your library to get the book. I’ve recently rediscovered the library and what I really like about it is that it gives you the opportunity to try new and different authors, no risk, for free.
8. Matthew Andress says:

   January 21, 2010 at 10:42 pm

   Frankie: My wife always removes the dust jackets and throws them away. It kills me every time. Especially on our first editions!