About the series

A small print run collection of classic literature – very popular with collectors and increasingly difficult to find now. Each book is bound in cloth and features unique wraparound artwork by different contemporary artists – working under the brief of designing a non-repeating narrative pattern. The books are largish hardbacks with Smyth-sewn pages; they use thick, acid-free paper and the top edges are colour-stained; and they include a bound-in ribbon bookmark. Internally, the books have illustrated endpapers (an inverted version of the cover design) and a decorative title page, and the text is elegantly typeset in Monotype Haarlemmer, and right-facing pages are joined to the overleaf by a catchword: an older practice wherein a hanging word at the bottom of the page provides the opening of the following page (intended to assist with reading flow). The books were issued with an obi-wrap (or belly band) detailing the benefits of the editions.

About the publisher

White’s Books was a London-based boutique publisher of deluxe hardcover editions of classic works of literature. It was established by designer David Pearson (previously a cover designer at Penguin Books, where he was responsible for the lovely typographic Great Ideas covers) and publisher Jonathan Jackson. The intent of their publications was to produce volumes with traditional, tactile finishes that would last the test of time. While the books indeed succeeded in achieving this worthy aim, unfortunately the publishing house did not.