# Books as decoration **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [August 27, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628 "2021-08-27T17:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/21 "2021-08-28T05:37:40Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I dunno, the Eaton Press ones kinda vibe me the wrong way. It is said that Trump, and his gold plated toilets, was a poor person’s idea of a rich guy, y’know - “classy”. The Eaton Press books feel like that to me. Fake hoity-toity. I agree completely. The look of those Easton books reminds me strongly of…     … **Reader’s Digest Condensed Books**. [![](https://i.etsystatic.com/15313562/r/il/d53baf/1824107275/il_570xN.1824107275_pyiw.jpg) ](https://i.etsystatic.com/15313562/r/il/d53baf/1824107275/il_570xN.1824107275_pyiw.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/f0tpT33/rd3.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/f0tpT33/rd3.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/N1kxXxV/rd1.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/N1kxXxV/rd1.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/gjXCqbq/rd4.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/gjXCqbq/rd4.jpg)   The Easton books may have better quality paper and leather bindings embossed with 22 carat gold 🙄 , but they have exactly the same cheap glitzy look. Bookshelf bling, not class. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/22 "2021-08-28T06:19:33Z")
I’ve not bought from Easton, but I think if you want a physical book collection there’s something to say for their products. I’ve bought books in bulk from library sales etc for most of my life and have cycled probably 15,000 or more books through my personal possession in my life, the vast majority not “physically high quality.” If you read a lot and go through a lot of books like I did, you actually notice a lot of problems that a nicer binder like Easton is trying to fix. Hardcovers last longer, sewn pages outlast glued ones, and the right paper and ink type outlast the cheaper versions. I’ve gone through many a book that definitely wouldn’t survive to be passed down to the next generation. Now for me, I don’t particularly plan to pass a bunch of books down to the next generation. If I did, I could see the need/use for something like Easton’s products. I’m also kind of an early adopter too though, and despite having been a major purchaser of physical books, I went hard into ebooks like two decades ago and barely purchase physical books any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/23 "2021-08-28T06:46:00Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > and had such rough edges on the pages. If you don’t care about books, you _tear_ the pages instead of slitting them 🙂 You never have to tear/slit all the pages, so unless there’s a mixture of rough and clean edges, the rough edges you see are the way the book was produced. I think that when I read about the 1920’s, slitting the pages refers to slitting only a few pages that the automatic slitting missed. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/24 "2021-08-28T07:06:34Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You never have to tear/slit all the pages You had to slit all the pages, but not all the edges. Up to the early 19th century, book pages were not slit. They were sold with the pages closed, and the reader had to slit them himself. That’s what paper knives were originally for. [![](https://www.leidenspecialcollectionsblog.nl/images/uploads/907_F5-6_with_fig.jpg) ](https://www.leidenspecialcollectionsblog.nl/images/uploads/907_F5-6_with_fig.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/26 "2021-08-28T09:45:36Z")
I get what people say about books for showing off and completely agree, but there are beautiful books that I like to buy nonetheless. I did not know about the Easton books and have never had one in my hands, they look OK in the pictures, though I see what **GreenWyvern** writes about the Reader’s Digest-look 😆 By the way, I like Reader’s Digest condensed books, they remind me of my late grandmother, she had several and I enjoyed them as a kid when I spent the summers at her place. Nostalgia is a valid reason, I hope. Funny somebody mentioned the Folio Society, as I have recently bought my first [book](https://www.foliosociety.com/row/a-man-on-the-moon.html?utm_source=lithub&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=a-man-on-the-moon&utm_content=review) from them. I am very satisfied. I even toyed with the idea of buying [this](https://thesistinechapel.callaway.com/order) from an even posher publisher recently, but thought better of it after a while. But the books that I really love are from [Taschen](https://www.taschen.com/), I have been buying them for decades. They have cheap ones and expensive ones, and they all look stunning. [Krazy Kat](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/graphic_design/all/01173/facts.george_herrimans_krazy_kat_the_complete_color_sundays_19351944.htm) **must** be this big (and 150 € is not that expensive for this quality), same for [Little](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/graphic_design/all/44817/facts.winsor_mccay_the_complete_little_nemo_19051909.htm) [Nemo](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/graphic_design/all/44849/facts.winsor_mccay_the_complete_little_nemo_19101927.htm). Their art books (Rembrandt, Leonardo, Hyeronimus Bosch…) are a joy to behold. I hope to publish my comic with them if I ever finish it 😉 What I need now is a good stand to read those heavy books, they are to bulky to have them on your lap. Finding a nice one is turning out to be difficult. [That one](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/60003/facts.sebastio_salgado_amazonia_sumo.htm) I fancy, but it happens to be sold only with the book (yes, I have asked), and that one is a book that does not interest me. Not for this price, anyway. Pity! I guess nobody has bought that book and happens not to like the stand? ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/27 "2021-08-28T19:41:23Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I did not know about the Easton books and have never had one in my hands, they look OK in the pictures, though I see what **GreenWyvern** writes about the Reader’s Digest-look 😆 Many of the Easton Press editions appear to be mimicking the style of 18th-century bookbinding, particularly in the spine design. Some of them, particularly their Tolkien set, are way too ornate for my personal taste. The Philip K. Dick volume I mentioned earlier is an exception; as Easton books go, it’s actually rather plain. [![](https://i.imgur.com/removed.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/removed.png) Aesthetic considerations aside, though, the craftsmanship and build quality of Easton Press editions is amazing. I suspect that the folks in this thread who are dismissing Easton books based on how they look on the website _might_ revise their opinion if they held one in their hands. They are light-years better than most other “fancy” books I’ve seen, such as those fake-leather editions that Barnes and Noble sells. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/28 "2021-08-28T19:58:48Z")
“Fine press” they call it now. Letterpress printing, engraving, custom binding, made by hand, etc. With prices (triple digits) to match. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/29 "2021-08-29T07:11:17Z")
That certainly looks far better than most of the books on their site, in fact pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/30 "2021-08-29T13:01:29Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I am surprised to see disparaging remarks about Easton (not Eaton) Press editions. They are beautifully-made, ultra-high-quality books. I keep getting tantalized by the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion box set … Oh My Sweet Jumping Jesus I really really want them, but I seem to remember seeing the set is like $600 or something like that. I will bumble along with my ebooks. But put me right down as one who if I won the oh my god lottery tonight, I would be on the phone with Easton with an order for one of everything [well, not really, but I would get whichever of their books took my fancy, and I would then hit up ABEBook to find moar bookz!] ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/31 "2021-08-29T13:17:13Z")
A very old New Yorker cartoon that I recall from time to time shows a man in a bookstore speaking with the worker: “I need 3 feet of green books”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/32 "2021-08-29T13:44:20Z")
And yet, you can order three feet (or whatever length) of green (or whatever color) books at a site such as [this](https://www.booksbythefoot.com/shop/pc/Books-by-Color-c3.htm). If The New Yorker of old thought that a joke, it’s very real today. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/33 "2021-08-29T17:15:22Z")
I use books as decoration. I find a stack of books make great stands for statues, a lamp, your favorite skull, stuffed raven, candlesticks and feather pen. Or tissue box, phone stand, cat perch. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/34 "2021-08-29T20:47:23Z")
Or your kindle. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/35 "2021-08-30T11:58:27Z")
The dream of an all ‘fancy’ binding library has no appeal for me. I much prefer the variety of all kinds of books, jumbled together, over uniformity. And I love dusty old books most of all. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/36 "2021-08-30T15:02:33Z")
> [@anny\_m](#): > > An article I saw a couple years ago had what \* concerned was the ultimate in “books as decoration.” The interior designer decided that the page edges looked better than the spines of the books and shelved them all backwards. I’ve seen decorators do this. Just dumb. I’ve also seen people who put all their books by spine color. Just horrible. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/37 "2021-08-30T22:26:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > “Wait, what? I’ve got _Girl Scouts Unleashed_ and _Cub Scouts Tied Up_ on my bookshelf? Honest, Miss Supervisor, I just bought those…well, yes, I did buy them, but I bought them by the foot!” > > You’re into children’s feet, too?! Would that make him a ped… something or other? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/38 "2021-09-02T23:08:39Z")
> [@Somethingwitty1](#): > > I think the distinction would be that you actually read the book, and that it is one of your favorite novels. I enjoy Phillip Dick as well. So it not unreasonable for you to enjoy a well made book of that novel. > > If you just ordered the collected works of Phillip Dick from Easton, with no intention of reading any of them. Just so they would look cool on your bookshelf. Well I think that is different. Absolutely. On my list for future gifts for my GF is a beautiful copy of Jane Eyre with illustrations that were included in one of the original early editions. It’s because it’s her favourite book, and means a lot to her - the beauty is an added benefit. Really can’t see anything wrong with it at all. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/39 "2021-09-02T23:28:35Z")
I have a couple of “invisible” bookshelves that are great for displaying books horizontally (but not so great for books that I’d want to peruse on a regular basis): [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51420356581_1fa1734007.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51420356581_1fa1734007.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/40 "2021-09-02T23:42:35Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The dream of an all ‘fancy’ binding library has no appeal for me. I much prefer the variety of all kinds of books, jumbled together, over uniformity. Heartily agreed. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-as-decoration/949628/41 "2021-09-03T00:02:20Z")
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