Categories: Children's LiteratureClassic Novels
Most Beautiful Books of 2024 – A Holiday Gift Guide
A collection of the most beautiful books published in 2024, from children's to non-fiction to fantasy. Find Christmas gifts or books for your own shelves.
15 Comments
Fan · 16 December 2022 at 4:59 pm
Thanks for the review. I would like to know the book paper. Does it use the offset paper or recycled paper? I am not an Englishman and may not express the precise words. I read the wordsworth classic books and it uses recycled paper which will turn yellow and be oxidized with black and yellow spots. Do the collector series use the same paper as wordsworth classic?
And I noticed that the wordsworth has published a luxury edition : https://wordsworth-editions.com/series/the-luxe-editions/, only six most beloved books. I think you can have a try 🙂
Daniel · 31 July 2022 at 7:33 pm
Hi, I have started collecting these for my daughter and was wondering how we can find out the schedule of books to be released in this collection? I have seen on another website that in August Dracula is joining the collection but wondering about any other titles?!
Daisy · 31 July 2022 at 9:54 pm
Hi Daniel – I usually find out what releases are on the horizon via publisher’s catalogues that are released a couple of times a year. And thanks for reminding me – I’ve updated the list here with all of the August 2022 titles for you to look at – it’s a huge crop with 11 titles coming out! Lots of spooky classics since they are releasing just before Halloween (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc), more Dickens, and a nice variety of other titles too. Hope your daughter is enjoying them!
Daniel · 31 July 2022 at 10:07 pm
Thanks Daisy
Daniel · 7 January 2023 at 7:16 pm
Hi Daisy
Will there be new volumes coming out in this series for 2023 or is it just the “Luxe” editions
Emma · 18 June 2022 at 6:37 am
Hello! I was wondering if you’ve had any issues with the quality of the covers? This set looks really pretty and I’d love to collect them, but I’m concerned about the quality. I saw multiple reviews online about the colors of the covers being easily scuffed off, and the material itself degrading quickly. There was even one comment that the interior pages smelled funny… Any thoughts?
Daisy · 18 June 2022 at 7:39 am
Hi Emma – yes, I’d agree that the covers on this series do scuff very easily. The books are designed to look very pretty on the shelf, but are made of materials that won’t stand up for a long time (e.g. the edges of the paper covers can lose colour with rough handling, the bindings may start to come loose after repeated reading). It’s a cost trade off, because they are really affordable but only because they cut costs on materials. I haven’t had issues with funny smelling pages though.
Emma · 18 June 2022 at 11:00 pm
Thank you so much!
Sophie · 5 June 2022 at 1:57 pm
Hello, I was wondering about the paper quality of the wordsmith classics. Are they acid free? Thanks
Daisy · 5 June 2022 at 2:31 pm
Hi Sophie! Yes, the pages are acid free (although not top quality). The glued bindings do have a shelf life of probably 20-40 years though.
Sophie · 5 June 2022 at 2:58 pm
Thanks for the quick response! Would this lower-quality paper, though acid free, still yellow quickly over time?
I have some the Barnes and Nobles paperbacks, which look really pretty with the spines arranged by color on a shelf. But after 10 years they’ve yellowed and started to smell old, so I’m looking for another set of classics with pretty solid-colored spines that I can arrange by color 🙂 Suggestions welcomed!
Daisy · 5 June 2022 at 3:05 pm
Publishers have slowly been replacing acidic paper with acid-free over the past 10 years or so, and now they mostly all are – so probably if you bought those same B&N paperbacks now they wouldn’t yellow. The B&N hardback collectible classics have some gorgeous spines, are (now) acid-free, and often go on sale. And there are a bunch of other beautiful classics options here that you could look through to see if any fit your aesthetic – I’m actually working on a classics review video at the moment as well 🙂
Sophie · 5 June 2022 at 10:06 pm
Thank you so much for the info! And looking forward to the new video! 🙂
Mitali · 18 August 2021 at 4:17 pm
Please compare macmeel majoline bastin edition and chiltern edition. Specially paper quality
Daisy · 18 August 2021 at 6:38 pm
Hi Mitali! The Marjoline Bastin and Chiltern editions are quite different. The Bastin editions are larger (about twice the size of the Chiltern), illustrated with floral decorations, and contain pull-out paper pieces, like letters and menus from the book. The paper is matte and good quality (off-white, looks like recycled paper), and the covers are paper covered boards which will need to be looked after carefully to protect them. The Chiltern have really tactile embossed covers, and high quality glossy paper, and are really sturdy. They are small sized books that replicate the original size of the publications during Victorian times, but the quality of materials gives them a bit of weight. Both are well made, so you can feel comfortable whichever you choose!