What we were after, one and all, was to produce a book which would be pleasant to see and to handle, with a cheerful outside, and print easy to read and good for the eyes within—tempting to look at on the shelf, and of a size convenient for the pocket, one that could be taken for a country ramble or for a railway journey or on shipboard. —Ernest Rhys
The binding styles of the Everyman's Library varied considerably over the years, going through changes both in design and in size. Scarcity of materials during two world wars caused some of these changes, as also the efforts of Dent to adhere to one of the primary objects of the series, to keep the price down so that it was affordable by "Everyman."
There were basically five primary binding styles between 1906 and 1976. From 1906 until 1953, the series was produced in a small foolscap octavo size (6-11/16 × 4-1/4 inches), encompassing three binding styles. From 1953 until 1976, the series was continued in the larger crown octavo size (7-1/8 × 4-5/8 inches). Binding style numbering follows Seymour (Guide 67). Unless otherwise noted, all images on this page are from the collection of Jeffrey S. Anderson.
| Style 1 | Style 2 | Style 3 | Styles 4 & 5 | Other |
Click thumbnails to enlarge images unless otherwise indicated
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| BIO | CLA | EBL | FIC | HIS | ORA | POD | REF | ROM | SCI | PHT | TRA | FYP |
| Grey | Pale Green |
Orange | Carmine | Scarlet | Brown | Olive | Maroon | Blue | Fawn | Purple | Dark Green |
Light Blue |
| Style 1 standard cloth bindings with flat spines, showing section categories and colors. | ||||||||||||
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| Dent library binding | Dutton library binding | Quarter pigskin binding | ||||||||||
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| Maroon leatherette | Style 1a spine | Style 1 & 2 Cover Stamping | ||||||||||
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Style 1 (1906-28)
The first binding style is characterized in its standard cloth version by flat spines with gilt floral decoration designed by
Reginald Knowles, and originally sold for one shilling.The series was divided into thirteen sections, with bindings of a
different color for each (section abbreviations follow Seymour's Guide):
In addition to the standard cloth, the earliest editions were produced in three other styles:
- § Library binding in buckram.
- This style has a much simpler gilt design, with the title enclosed in a gilt border with a round or teardrop shaped loop at the bottom. If it was published by Dent, this loop contains an "E" with an overlapping "L", with the Dent name at the foot of the spine, usually blind-stamped. The loop is blank if it is a Dutton edition, with the Dutton name stamped in gold at the foot. Colors of these bindings varied.
- § Deluxe library binding in quarter pigskin.
- The spine is like the plain library binding, but is bound in a rich brown quarter pigskin. This binding was only available in the
early days of the library, probably not later than 1918 (Seymour 2).
- § Maroon leatherette.
- This binding has a spine that is identical to the standard flat spine, with an additional floral gilt design on the cover. The corners of the binding are rounded, and the top edge of the pages is gilt. A silk book marker is also bound in. It originally sold for two shillings--twice the price of the standard cloth. This binding was phased out near the time that the quarter pigskin binding was discontinued (Seymour 3).
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| BIO | CLA | EBL | FIC | HIS | ORA | POD | REF | ROM | SCI | PHT | TRA | FYP |
| Grey | Pale Green |
Orange | Carmine | Scarlet | Brown | Olive | Maroon | Blue | Fawn | Purple | Dark Green |
Light Blue |
| Style 2 standard cloth bindings, showing section categories and colors | ||||||||||||
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| Style 2 leatherette spine and cover | Style 2 with custom stamping | |||||||||||
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Style 2 (1928-34)
The first binding design change occurred in 1928, largely occasioned by the desire to use real gold again for the spine gilding. Like the first binding, the design was floral, but in the shape of a cartouche or shield, and blocked only about half-way down the spine. As part of this redesign, the spine was also changed from the original flat back to a rounded back, which was more durable. The slightly ribbed texture of the binding was retained, as was the blind-stamped design on the cover and the Reginald Knowles endpapers. There was no change in the design of the standard library binding.
The new leatherette binding was actually introduced around 1921, but is grouped here for discussion since it is the second such binding style, and endured through 1934. The leather used was tanned using a process that increased the leather's resistance to deteriorization, and was hand-grained and hand-fitted. The quality of this new binding is palpably sturdier than the old leatherette, and the simpler Celtic knot-work spine design realized a substantial savings in gold leaf, as did the small circular "JMD" device on the cover. A fine copy in this binding is certainly one of the most attractive Dents produced.
Because the new leatherette left more open space on the cover, this binding became commonly used for school prize presentation copies, upon which the seal of the school or some other emblem could be embossed in gold. It is unlikely that this would have been done by Dent, but rather by taking a copy elsewhere for the custom stamping. A nice example of this is shown at right.
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| BIO | CLA | EBL | FIC | HIS | ORA | POD | REF | ROM | SCI | PHT | TRA | FYP | |
| Rose | Apple Green |
Orange | Carmine | Scarlet | Brown | Olive | Maroon | Light Blue |
Fawn | Deep Blue |
Dark Green |
Blue | |
| Style 3 standard cloth bindings, showing section categories and colors | |||||||||||||
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| Style 3 cloth spine & cover | Style 3 library binding | ||||||||||||
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| Style 3 leather spine | Style 3 leather (Dutton 1948) | ||||||||||||
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Style 3 (1935-52)
In 1935 a drastic change of design involved substituting type-set titlings in the Perpetua Roman face designed by Eric Gill (1882-1940, and who also did the design work for Dent's New Temple Shakespeare) and abstract ornamental woodcuts by Eric Ravilious (1903-42) on the title-page and binding, and using natural-grain cloth in place of the original grained smooth-finish cloth (Reader's Guide to Everyman's Library, 4th ed. [RG4], xx-xxi).
Despite the evident intention of Dents to reduce the number of color variants to seven in this redesign (RG4, xix), binding style 3 continued to have thirteen variants, though they are somewhat different than in the previous bindings. Lacking any authoritative reference for the names of these new colors, I have improvised.
The library binding was of the same material as in previous editions. The spine was simplified as in the standard cloth, but without the blind stamping on the cover. Library bindings were not issued after 1939.
The leatherette binding was similarly simplified. It appears that this binding ceased production with the strictures of the wartime economy in 1940 (Seymour 7). However, the image at left of Plato's Republic (No. 64) is something of an oddity produced by Dutton in 1948, with additional gilt scrollwork on the spine and a gilt Ravilious stamping on the cover. Robin Garton, in his introduction to For Shop Use Only, is thus mistaken when he writes that this design, block 21 in the catalogue, was not used by Dents at all.
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Black | Green | Plum | Blue | Carmine | Brown | ||||||
| Style 4 standard cloth bindings. | ||||||||||||
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| Style 4 bronze gilt | No. 663 Everyman Anthology |
Style 5 spine | ||||||||||
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Style 4 (1953-70)
and
Style 5 (1968-76)
In 1953 Dents made the most drastic format change to date by increasing the size of the volumes to the larger crown octavo (7-1/8 × 4-5/8 inches), which allowed for larger margins, and by also redesigning the spine imprints, title pages, endpapers, and dustjackets. This change seems largely to have been in response to the demands of libraries, where the smaller sized volumes apparently presented shelving difficulties.
The thirteen colors were finally reduced to seven as shown, though some of these colors, particularly the pale red and the brown, also exist in slightly different shades than the ones shown at left, perhaps due to cloth and dye inconsistencies. I have been unable to determine if there were other colors. The color ceased having any association with the section designation, and after 1961, section designations were discontinued altogether (Seymour 66).
The spines retained the simplicity of the Style 3 binding, but the interlocking script 'EL' was employed at the foot of the spine, as it also was used in a repeating pattern on the endpapers. This was most commonly gilt in gold, but there was also a bronze or copper-colored gilt used, which I have only seen on the black, blue, and green covers.
To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Everyman's Library in 1966, Dents published An Everyman Anthology (No. 663), edited by J. B. Priestley. It was issued in the special binding shown at left, with special endpapers and dustjacket.
Binding style 5 began to be produced as early as 1968, and actual production of style 4 was entirely phased out by 1970. The gilt Aldine Press anchor-and-dolphin icon replaced the 'EL' design, and the 'Everyman's Library" label returned to the foot of the spine. Endpapers were changed to a plain light blue. The overall quality of the cloth binding, and eventually the pages, declined noticeably. The colors changed as well, but this is not shown for lack of an adequate range of volumes to justify any firm conclusions at this time.
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| The Everyman's Encyclopedia | ||||||||||||
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| Bedford morocco leather binding | ||||||||||||
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| Aldine morocco leather binding | ||||||||||||
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| Australian binding | ||||||||||||
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| No. 800F Dutton binding (1928) | ||||||||||||
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| New American Edition, decorated cover | New American Edition, plain cover | |||||||||||
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| The Bookseller's Guide (1932) | ||||||||||||
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| Example of a proof copy (1939) | ||||||||||||
Other Bindings
The first edition of The Everyman's Encyclopedia (Nos. 641-52) in 12 volumes appeared in 1913. It was originally issued at the rate of one volume per month. There were several formats, including a buckram, maroon leatherette, and quarter pigskin. The set shown at left is in the standard flat-back binding with blind-stamped cover, and though faded, it is in the standard maroon of the reference section. With the publication of the second edition in 1931, it was produced in a larger format and dropped from the serial numbering section (Seymour 7-8, 143).
The Bedford binding in a flexible morocco leather was issued in the early days of the library in "32 specially selected volumes" and with a "charming photogravure portrait and title page." It was only briefly available circa 1910-11 (Seymour 3-4).
Like the Bedford binding, the Aldine morocco was only available in the early days of the library. The binding is sturdier than the Bedford or the leatherette, and the leather has a pebbled texture. Both this binding and the Bedford were intended for presentation purposes, and both lack any external indications of actually being part of Everyman's Library (Seymour 3-4).
Everyman's Library was distributed in Australia by E. W. Cole of Melbourne. These volumes were printed in Great Britain, but by shipping them unbound, Dent was able to save on shipping costs. They were bound in Australia with the typical Style 1 floral gilt spine, but with "E. W. Cole Book Arcade Melbourne" at the foot. The cover was elaborately blind-stamped.
Dutton released six titles in the United States under the Everyman rubric in 1927-28. The endpapers are the familiar Knowles design, but the binding resembles no other EML publication. These were numbered 800A-800F. For a full discussion, see Seymour 18-19.
Dutton published the New American Edition from 1950-53, comprised of 32 volumes, 22 of which had been previously issued in the regular Everyman's Library editions, and 10 of which were newly included. The only one to have a regular dustjacket was the last and only one published in 1953, Henry James' Selected Fiction (No. 649A). The others were sold in cellophane wrappers. Most had the decorated covers, but some were published in plain covers, as shown at left.
The Bookseller's Guide is not properly part of the regular Everyman's Library, but the binding is so attractive, it is included here. It is a modified version of No. 889, Farquharson's Reader's Guide to Everyman's Library (1932), and was issued as a presentation edition for booksellers. The editor's essay was omitted, it was printed on thin paper to keep it pocket-sized, and an appendix was added detailing the three binding styles and their prices.
Also not properly part of the regular Everyman's Library, but of interest nonetheless, is this example of a proof copy of No. 958, D. H. Lawrence's Stories, Essays, and Poems (1939). The covers are paper wrapped around what appears to be a normal book block.
Dandelion device designed by Aubrey Beardsley for Dent's 1893-4 publication of Morte d'Arthur. It is an example of what is called 'canting' heraldry, for it is a visual pun on the French for dandelion, 'dent de lion'. See Aldine House (London: Dent, 1926), 10.