Petite histoire des couvertures de livres – 3/4

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Third chapter of our complete series sweeping the graphic evolution of book covers to the present day, through its most significant revolutions. If you missed episodes 1 and 2, we invite you to discover them before reading this one: Chapter 1: IIIe s. to 1860 "From Codex to color printing" Chapter 2: 1860 to 1935 "From printed fabric to paper jacket" Chapter 3: 1935 to 1970 "From paperback to abstraction" Chapter 4: from 1960 to our days "French paperback, graphics and contemporary covers" Chapter 3: from paperback to abstraction (from 1935 to the 70's) After the First World War, the book cover migrated from fabric to paper jacket.

This response to a budgetary constraint leads to colossal changes which notably allow the revolution of the pocket format. From Penguin editions to the birth of graphic design, the cover is an open book on the social mores of a country and an era. Here is the penultimate article of our series sweeping the graphic evolution of  jewelry retouch service covers of books up to the present day, through its most striking revolutions. We will first talk about the revolution launched by the Penguin editions, before looking at the American paperbacks of the fifties and the position of women, and then discuss the beginnings of the use of photography and abstraction. In this article, we will focus mainly on England and the USA, before looking at the French particularity in a future article.


Pockets full of penguins (1935) Between the two wars, with the help of technical revolutions (see our article 2), mentalities also evolved. Publishers have gone all paper, but each country is developing its own style. The first paperback books were born, which took shape with, among others, the Penguin editions in 1935. As in the days of Penny-Dreadful and Paperbacks, the book became accessible and available, even to the working classes. The cardboard cover disappears in favor of a simple soft paper cover. Another important detail changes, however: the quality of the manuscripts offered, and the balance between the price and the quality of the book.