100 Great American Book Covers

On April 22, the John Hay Library at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, will host a lecture by book artist, author, and FB&C book art columnist Richard Minsky titled "The Art of American Book Covers 1875-1930: One Hundred Great Covers from the Brown University Library." Minsky will discuss how visual artists transformed book covers by embracing Modernism--from Proto-Constructivism and Futurism to Art Nouveau to Surrealism and Abstraction. Minsky's talk will be complemented by an exhibit of 100 publishers' bindings pulled from Brown's collection, including the two beauties previewed here. The exhibit runs from April 15 through May 14. 

Images: The Land of the Midnight Sun by Paul B. Du Chaillu (Harper & Brothers, 1881). Cover by Edwin A. Abbey. Mr. Bodley Abroad by Horace E. Scudder (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1881). Unidentified artist. Courtesy of Richard Minsky.