An anonymous cover for Alfred H. Miles’s ‘Fifty-two Stories’

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Book Design —> Cloth binding —> Late Victorian and Edwardian Cloth and Card Bindings —> Next]

Cloth binding for ‘Fifty Two Stories of Courage’

Unsigned

[1901]

Cloth binding gilt

8½ x 5¾ inches

A splendidly dynamic front cover for Miles’s book of derring-do and swashbuckling action. [Commentary continues below.]

Scan by a collector and text by Simon Cooke [Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

[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.]

First published in 1901, this book for boys is given the best possible chance of success by projecting its macho contents in a strident combination of gilt lettering, vivid colour and heroic imagery. Designed to appeal to the younger generation with stories of epic deeds and empire-building, the book is a prime example of an Edwardian juvenile with a binding as loud and outspoken as its stories.

Bibliography

Miles, Alfred H. Fifty-two Stories of Courage and Endeavour for Boys. London: Hutchinson, [1901].

Victorian
Web

Book
Design

Cloth
Bindings

Created 14 May 2022