Happy World Book Day: 11 Beautiful Book Covers from the 1920s

By Alex Heigl
March 03, 2016 03:00 PM

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SUTTER'S GOLD

The New York Public Library

This series was established in 1817, and this volume is believed to be from 1927.

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SKAZKI

The New York Public Library

Ida Zeitlin’s collection of Russian folk tales dates to 1926.

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REVELRY

The New York Public Library

This 1926 book’s cover certainly gives lie to its title, huh? It’s about the scandals of the administration of President Warren G. Harding.

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MAN POSSESSED

The New York Public Library

This collection of Benét’s poetry was originally published in 1927.

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THE CUBICAL CITY

The New York Public Library

Flanner wrote a column for The New Yorker under a pseudonym for nearly 50 years.

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EARLY AUTUMN

The New York Public Library

Bromfield’s 1927 tale of an old New England family at the end of its heyday won a Pulitzer Prize.

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BURNED EVIDENCE

The New York Public Library

One of the oldest books here, Woodrow’s murder mystery was originally published in 1925.

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CAPRICIOUS WINDS

The New York Public Library

Chicago’s Helen Birch Bartlett was both a published composer and poet. (Capricious Winds, a collection of her poetry, was published in 1927.) She and her husband accrued quite the collection of paintings, including Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Paul Gauguin’s Day of the God, and Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, which today comprises a good chunk of the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection.

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BRONX BALLADS

The New York Public Library

This collection of witty songs dates to 1927.

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ADVENTURES WITH BIG FISH

The New York Public Library

Wood’s 1925 book covers the whaling industry. His other works also focused on the sea, including a collection of stories from shipwreck survivors.

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LIFE AND LETTERS

The New York Public Library

This is the first-volume cover of Conrad’s Life and Letters.

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