Endpapers

The distant, and mostly poor relation of the book cover, endpapers are something of a lost art in the world of modern mass market publishing. Technically they fulfill the utilitarian role of hiding the messy binding of the hardback covers. However, in many cases the endpapers themselves were of a high artistic quality and it is always worth exploring what lurks beneath the faded covers of those tatty volumes in second-hand bookstores.
Of particular interest to me are the 20th century patterned papers by artist-designers such as Ravilious (see Everyman), Bawden, Piper, Sutherland and Nash (see illustration right, Crocus 1925). As well as these luminaries, other less well known designers were producing exceptional work in a variety of techniques: an example of which would be the marbled paper of Tirzah Garwood Ravilious. Also, if you have a selection of old Ladybird books in the attic, you can use the endpapers to date them. For some other fine examples of endpapers take a peek at Drawger, and Penguin Book's Blog, also Persephone Books, although their 'what women want' justification is a tad odd.