White’s Books first appeared a couple of years ago, when they launched a series of attractive hardcover classics with decorated cloth. It’s a project run under the art direction of David Pearson, an ex-Penguin designer who worked on projects like the Great Ideas series, and the cheap green Popular Classics.
The latest from White’s is a new series of Pocket Classics. These are white hardcover books, nicely done with cover illustrations by Joe McLaren, printed on paper cases and embossed to give them a letterpress look. They’ve got head and tail bands, and ribbon bookmarks: quite a nice package, especially for the RRP of £6.99.
There are a couple of niggles: the text is set without much in the way of a margin, making it look cramped on the page (presumably a trade-off for the small format of the book); and the bellybands, at least on my copies, were glued in place inside the covers, meaning that they couldn’t be removed without damaging the endpapers. This is a shame, as these bands usually get a bit mangled in everyday use, so leaving them in place isn’t much of an option either.
They’re still a lovely-looking series, though, and a great price for what you get.
The full list of titles doesn’t contain many surprises, but then this is primarily a design project, rather than an editorial one. Titles are:
- Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
- Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
- Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
- Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
- Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
- Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen
- The Christmas Books – Charles Dickens
February 6th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Where might one find these books in the US? Thanks!
August 24th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
love these little books. good quality, very affordable and the front cover illustrations made me want to hunt out more of them.