About This Book

At the turn of the twentieth century book design was more than a craft. It was a labor of love at the forefront of art. Readers accustomed to today's more utilitarian book covers will find breathtaking images here—gold leaf patterns intricate enough to replicate the shimmer of feathers, forests rendered in rich color and silver, and elegant allusions to Asian art. The diversity and ingenuity of these books will capture the imagination of book lovers and collectors—and anyone who enjoys engaging design.

Selecting the most beautifully crafted and influential pieces from his two-volume, limited edition catalog, author Richard Minsky, the internationally exhibited artist, collector, and founder of the Center for Book Arts, uncovers the world behind a lost art. Richard discusses the role of women, technology, the use of silhouettes, pattern, poster style and more. He also reveals key artists, their signature designs and flourishes, the designs they inspired and the designs that inspired them.

The Art of American Book Covers: 1875—1930 is a beautifully embossed hardcover filled with gorgeous color reproductions.

Published by George Braziller, Inc.


ISBN 978-0-8076-1602-4
91/2" x 81/4" full color clothbound hardcover, 136 pages

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About the Author
Richard Minsky is widely acclaimed as a pioneering book artist whose work is collected internationally by major museums and libraries. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant and the prestigious US/UK Bicentennial Fellowship, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and The British Council. In 2010 Yale University, the repository of The Richard Minsky Archive, presented an exhibition of fifty years of Minsky's work. A limited edition catalog is available.

Richard is the Founder of the Center for Book Arts (1974), which has mounted over 200 exhibitions during the past 35 years, and currently offers 100 classes and workshops. He has lectured at many institutions, including Brown University, The London College of Printing, Washington University, and The Wizard Academy.

He has published three limited edition volumes on American Decorated Publishers' Bindings, 1872-1929, which are in many institutional collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Morgan Library, and other great institutions.

For an extensive list of his activities, click here, or go to the site map.