Jane Austen's fashion history: 200 years of cover designs – in pictures

Thomas Egerton’s first edition of Jane Austen’s debut novel, Sense and Sensibility (1811)

 

 

In Austen’s time, books were bound very simply in cardboard covers with only a paper label bearing the title on the spine. Private purchasers would have the books rebound to match the other books in their library, like this “half calf” rebinding of the first edition of Austen’s first book, Sense and Sensibility: the front and back were covered in mottled paper, while the corners and the spine were covered with leather, providing cheaper protection. Novels would rarely have received a full leather binding in those days, as they were not considered worth such treatment – it would have been reserved for more “serious” books, such as history or poetry. Read more: 14/jane-austens-fashion-history-200-years-of-cover-designs-in-pictures