When e-books and e-readers started to become popular, many commentators in the publishing industry were making predictions about the imminent demise of printed books, claims that even at the time seemed silly and extravagant.  Ten or more years on, sales of e-books have flattened, printed books are prospering, and the pundits are hoping the rest of us have forgotten their silliness.

The affection readers feel for “traditional” books isn’t especially difficult to understand.  Books can be beautiful objects, and today it’s easier to find gorgeous examples of the craft than at any time in history.  Book jackets are a big part of the appeal.  You don’t have to be a true bibliophile – the aficionado looking for the perfect harmony of paper, binding, and typeface – to appreciate a beautiful book jacket and recognize what it adds to the experience of reading.  Here are a few of my personal favorites.

I’ve often wondered what influence authors have on the covers of their own books and what they think about the end result.  Jhumpa Lahiri, celebrated novelist and short story writer, has written a delightful account of her own complicated relationship with book covers in an essay published by Bloomsbury, The Clothing of Books.  She’s wonderfully direct about the subject:

“The right cover is like a beautiful coat, elegant and warm, wrapping my words as they travel through the world, on their way to keep an appointment with my readers. The wrong cover is cumbersome, suffocating.  Or it is like a too-light sweater: inadequate.  A good cover is flattering.  I feel myself listened to, understood.  A bad cover is like an enemy; I find it hateful”.

This is a lovely, revealing, and surprisingly personal essay.  It deserves to be read, not just by bibliophiles or fans of Jhumpa Lahiri, but by everyone stubbornly faithful to printed books, those incomparable and perfect devices for delivering truth and beauty of all kinds.