Art Gallery

All About Dustwrapper Art

Dust jackets were originally intended to protect books from being damaged, to preserve the covers and binding, but over time have come to be a part of the books themselves. In the 19th century, booksellers realised the marketing potential of having the name of the book printed on the protective cover, so the book was easily identifiable even in its wrapping, and over time some dust jackets came to be highly decorated, adding to the visual appeal of the books. Decorating the dust jacket, as opposed to just the cover, became more popular, and by the 20th century most books just used the dust jacket as a cover, especially by the 1950s and 60s, when more commercialised fiction was becoming popular and readily available. Decorated dust jackets also helped to sell the books, as readers got to take home a piece of artwork as well as a book. Consumers also began to keep the dust jackets, as opposed to them being treated as part of the packaging.

Due to their nature, dust jackets are fragile and more prone to damage, and perfectly preserved dust covers are particularly special. The covers in this collection showcase some of the vivid designs of fifties and sixties artwork, and the skill and talent that went into creating these items which have become so much more than just protective sleeves, but valuable pieces of art and design in themselves.

The 50s and 60s have been nicknamed the ‘Golden Age’ of detective fiction, and many of the 1960s art prints we see in this collection are covers from popular detective novels. One of the dust-wrappers we see in the collection is from Nina Bawden’s first novel, Who Calls the Tune, a classic murder mystery from the author, who is known for her evocative mysteries and children’s books. There are also detective mystery covers for well-known authors of the genre, such as Berkeley Grey, Hartley Howard, and John Stephen Strange, among others. The cover art of these books is extremely evocative, and is a part of the art movements of the 1950s and 1960s, incorporating many of the same motifs of print and art design as modernism, surrealism, and the abstract.

The 1960s art on these dust-wrappers is especially distinctive and recognisable as belonging to a particular era, and is evocative of the detective and mystery genre in general. Much of the 60s art is surreal in appearance, and intended to evoke a sense of danger and mystery. The 1950s and 1960s artwork for book covers is seen as some of the finest cover design, making full use of the marketing value of the dust jacket to capture the attention of the consumer.

These 1950s and 1960s artists make use of a number of techniques which make the graphic designs of this era so distinctive. The lettering is elegant and bold, and is intrinsic to the design of the cover; there is a bold use of silhouette; and the colours are vibrant and often contrasting, making use of a palette of only one or two colours. This creates the familiar block-colours, vivid contrasts, and graphics that are instantly associable with mystery.

1950s art prints for dust wrapper designs tend to be the ones we most readily associate with vintage art. It makes use of illustration, often but not always hand-drawn, and bold use of colour contrasts. 1960s art prints focus more on the vivid text, experimenting with fonts and sizes, often using the colours and fonts to represent something of the characters or themes of the book.

Many of the vintage 50s and 60s posters and artwork that we feature here are the original dust wrapper artworks. They are mounted on boards to preserve their good condition, feature the art of the cover design and the spine, and are often signed by the cover artist.