Friendship’s Offering

Behold the first known book jacket, for an 1829 literary anthology. It was discovered at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, minus the book it once encased, which is advertised on heavy cream paper as an “elegantly bound” volume to be had for 12 shillings. The decorative borders, with their Neo-Egyptian type ornaments, are especially nice. More at Nineteenth Century Book Jackets via the Book Bench.