Vintage Book Cover Inspiration

Old books on my shelf

If you tell me that book covers are not good at all anymore, I will literally write an entire newsletter to argue with you. I think there have always been good covers, there have always been bad covers, and there will be both until humankind makes itself extinct.

HOWEVER, I do have a particular affinity for mid-twentieth century book design. Perhaps due to techniques available, perhaps due to prevailing tastes, in many covers from this time period,¹ there is an economic simplicity I find so damn attractive. I don’t think we should all worship at the feet of Paul Rand, but, I have to admit, I do like modernism.

As such, over the years, I have collected a handful of vintage books with handsome covers. I try to be conservative with my purchases, but still, the collection grows. In an attempt to justify this accumulation, I would like to share some images of these covers with you.

Click here to view in your browser. There’s a lot of images, and this will get cut off in your email inbox.

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Let me know which cover you like best, and why!

Jacket design by Tony Palladino, 1961. Thanks to Lisa Lewis for sending me this one!

Designer uncredited. Greenway Edition, 1974.

Cover design by Guy Fleming, 1962.

Jacket design by Gray Morrow, 1965.

Jacket design by Wendell Minor, 1971.

Jacket design by Muriel Nasser, 1971.

Cover design by Saul Lambert, 1967.

Cover design uncredited, 1981.

Cover design by Muriel Nasser, 1977.

Jacket design by George Lenox, “with homage to the typographic ornamentation done in the 1930s by W. A. Dwiggins,” 1985.

Cover design by George Maas, 1957.

Jacket design by Miriam Woods, 1953.

Cover design uncredited, 1955.

Cover design uncredited, 1974.

Jacket design by Jean Carlu, 1965.

Jacket design by Charles Skaggs, 1947.

Cover design by Janet Halverson, 1964.

Cover design by Angela and James Foote, 1966.

Cover design by Patricia Bauer, 1976.

Cover design by Milton Glaser, 1949.

Cover design uncredited, 1972. Joel Snyder, Art Director.

Designer uncredited, 1952.

Jacket design by John Updike, 1981.

Thanks for Reading!

Thank you for reading looking! I mean it.

If you’d like to keep this newsletter going and help me say no to designing soul-sucking books about corporate events, email marketing, and raising capital, consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a coffee.

Until next time,
Nathaniel

1. Of which I am defining pretty loose, admittedly.