Beautiful Classic Books


Sabrina over at the Hello Lucky blog reminded me how much I adore these beautifully styled books that I first saw at Design*Sponge. I am a classic book reading type of gal and would love to put these lovelies designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith on my shelf. They can be found online in the UK here. (I hope a U.S. option/retailer will join the mix) See them up close here.




I am also enamoured with the redesign (by Kelly Blair) of these Harvard Business Review classics which I saw in the Chicago Airport. I wanted to buy 5 of the beautifully design slim books, because they were so gorgeous, and you can't go wrong with classic business stuff --- right? (images found here)



Looking for something pretty and mini? I have purchased these mini gramercy classics in the past, which have been great for 'on the go' reading.



The impeccably designed Penguin "great ideas" series I once talked about here, has also expanded to include series 2 and 3. Yes...



Other beautiful books/series I've had my eye on for a while include 1: Phaidon Color Library Series 2:Wallpaper City Guide 3: Merriam-Webster Fashion Color dictionary.

What books are you enjoying the covers and content of? Do share.

21 comments:

Laura said...

What a great post--one of my all-time favorites! I love great looking books. It seems as though even paperbacks are looking a lot better these days, too.

Tina { Luphia Loves... } said...

these cover designs are beautiful, love the hardback cover too

Anonymous said...

i am so in love with these books and with this post!!

Micaela said...

instant beauty!

sweetlifeinthevalley said...

I love vintage books. I think I will head out and see if I can find a lovely copy of The Christmas Carol for my collection. Great post!

CMN said...

Ohhhh, Rachel, I've got a fabulous tip for you! The first books you showed... classics with seriously classic cover design? Well, run, don't walk, RUN, to your nearest Borders Books. Fiction department... they've got a whole series going on in classical covers too. The only down side is that they're doing one book in the series per author. But you'll find Pride & Prejudice, The Jungle Book, The Three Musketeers, Don Quixote, Alice in Wonderland... and lots more! Run, Run, Run!

meetmeatmikes said...

Yes. They are gorgeous. Judge a book by it's cover, I say!

Deb Oh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leslie said...

i have those mini gramercys, too. they look so pretty all together.

Anonymous said...

The first book collection is on my wish list and I am really hoping I get it. I think it would be really great to pass on to my future children. I really love the lettering in that book "Days of Reading Marcel Provst". Great finds!

Jenn Kirk said...

I love the cover designs (hidden under the dust jacket) of vintage Reader's Digest condensed books.

shill said...

i love books, and this is one great post!!!all so very pretty :)

Anonymous said...

ooh so pretty. i have one of those mini gramercy classics, that is it looks like it should be from that set but it says chancellor classics instead. but the cover pattern looks the same. searched to see if i could find them online and they are here http://www.petersen-buchimport.com/aktionen/chancellorclassics.pdf :)

Unknown said...

OH i love those dictionaries. my friend has one, i've always wanted to buy one.
this is a terrific post.

Anonymous said...

i do think this is my favorite post of all time, too. thanks so much for sharing!

littlesquidge said...

I have pre-ordered all 8 of the Penguin Classics within 1 hr of reading your blog post! Beautiful thank you, they will have pride of place on my bookshelf.

katie hanson said...

I love this post! I JUST posted about my favorite children's books that I'm hoarding for my as yet unborn children :) haha. I also have had my eye on the wallpaper city guides, but now I can add the others to my wish list! thanks :)

Unknown said...

Yeah, they are all so adorable, but where can I get them from

gabriela said...

anthropologie carries those books.

Unknown said...

Nothing makes my heart palpitate more than a gorgeous book. This post almost gave me a heart attack! Stunning. Modern Sophisticate

Mackenzie said...

What are the dimentions of the mini classics? Iv been looking around on line, and im quite taken by them, but i cant find how " mini" thwy are. Are they hardcover, im asuming so.

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