Unsigned binding for Benjamin Disraeli’s ‘Henrietta Temple’.

Paper binding

Circa 1880

A card binding with a printed image on glazed paper, by an unknown artist

7x 4½ inches

A typical ‘yellow-back’, comprising cheap paper and binding. The front cover usually presented a lurid scene printed on glazed boards in the manner of the one presented here: a sensational entertainment for a long railway journey or for leisure moments by the fireside. The poorness of the production meant that while many copies of the genre have survived, few are anything other than fragile and faded.

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

  • Benjamin Disraeli

    • Photograph and text by Simon Cooke

    [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]