International Collectors Library Vintage Books

Are these books for the Book Collector in your life?  Um, no, not really.  As you will see from the re-cap below, these were meant to be purchased and enjoyed by everyone - not just for the literature, but also for the design.  Do we love them anyway?  Oh yes!  We love the imperfections, the worn feel and the yellowed paper on each and every one of them.  The patina, warmth, character and colour they bring to our shelves is really the best part (after we've read them, of course). 

The International Collectors Library was a book club series published by Doubleday Book & Music Clubs, Inc. from the late 1940’s through the late 1980’s.  They were produced in Garden City, New Jersey.

Generally, the books followed the 8-1/2″ x 5-3/4″ Octovo book size format.  The binding designs were adapted based on old “Golden Age of Bookmaking” bindings, and made to look like leather-bound copies (Faux Leather or Leatherette).  The bindings were embossed with 24K gold embellishments, and some copies had gilt edges (thin layer of gold leaf) applied.  A sewn in satin ribbon marker was also added in most books.  

Since this series was meant to be inexpensive to the average reader, the quality of materials and bookmaking process are not of high-quality.  The paper is not archival, acid-free type, and as a result the paper has yellowed on many of the books.  The binding covers and spines are also susceptible to chipping, cracking, and separation.  Occasionally, the gold embellishments on the bindings were not printed straight.