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

Barbara Brown, Illustrator of the Jane Austen 1975 Commemorative Stamps

Barbara Brown was born in Surrey, and lived and works in London.  She attended Hornsey College of Arts and Crafts, and then  the Royal College of Art where she studied graphic design and book illustration.She was well-known as an illustrator of children books and also undertook designs for Halcyon Days enamels under the stewardship of Susan Benjamin. In 1970 Halcyon Days revised the art of enamelling these delightful “toys”  -mostly small boxes for comfits or snuff. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries these boxes  had been made at Bilston in the West Midlands or in Battersea. Mrs Benjamin had been an antiques dealer specialising in collecting and selling these boxes for some years,selling her wares form her delightful shop in Mayfair. She decided to revive the art,due to demand for the items, commissioning many special pieces from favoured artists. Here is one of Barbara Brown’s designs for her, which illustrated the children’s nursery rhyme, Oranges and Lemons. Read more http://austenonly.com/

Maximilien Vox

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Maximilien Vox (real name: Samuel William Théodore Monod^[1]) was a French writer, cartoonist, illustrator, publisher, journalist, critic art theorist and historian of the French letter and typography. He was born on 16 December 1894 in Condé-sur-Noireau and died on 18 December 1974 in Lurs where he is buried. He created the VOX-ATypI classification.