Have 'em all :)

I love these, they make a messy bookshelf come together.

guess you can judge a book by its cover - these are absolutely gorgeous!

Hi guys! Two questions:
1) I've recently heard a lot of people talking about the binding and wondering if they're glued or sewn. Can anyone speak about this? I've gotten conflicting info online.
2) Does anyone know where I can nab a copy of Crime and Punishment? It doesn't seem to be available ANYWHERE anymore . . .
Thanks!!

they were mostly available for a limited time and run! It was a sad time to be a broke book loving student... I did manage to get the Alice in Wonderland one, though! But, I don't think Oliver Twist or The Odyssey (the two others I most wanted) actually made it into my nick of the Canadian wilderness... le sigh.

I fell in love with those at Anthro...sigh. Def should have bought one or two.

Available on Amazon

I was so excited when I saw these ... but I found the quality to be rather wanting. from my memory, they are indeed glued, and I found the paper feel to be of a lower quality than I would want for such a pretty cover and the price.

maggskh -- are you looking for any copy of Crime and Punishment or one in particular? Alibris.com has many copies, from $2 up (with $4 shipping). They're a great place to find any book you're looking for, in editions Amazon doesn't have quite often. I always check there before buying on Amazon, because sometimes the prices are ridiculously better.

I love these--have almost all of them myself. I actually think the price on Amazon--13.50--is super reasonable, cheaper than Anthropologie. You get what you pay for, and hey, they look GREAT!

@maggskh: From the first series, Penguin only printed one edition of the C&P and Madame Bovary. They're VERY hard to come by. You could try calling local Waterstone's stores in London. That's only only place you may be able to find them because those two titles were not released to other distributers.

You could also look on eBay, but the last C&P I saw on there went for over $200. I'd sell you mine, but I'm too in love with my set!

I've not seen these. From the looks of them, they don't have paper jackets; the design is printed on the boards.

If that's the case, Penguin is reverting to the old way of book design. Decorative book covers were an important genre in the renaissance. In the 19th century, covers were printed in in many styles. Here is a fine collection:

http://picasaweb.google.com/booknspoon/BeautifulBooks#

I've managed to get everything but Crime & Punishment and Madame Bovary, as others mentioned. I just got a shipment from Amazon this week. When I pulled off the sticker on the back, some of the print was removed. I was pretty upset, then realized that $13.50 is exceptionally reasonable for such beautiful books, and I'm reading them, not just looking at them, so wear will happen eventually. They're worth every penny in my eyes.

If you know anyone in Australia, Madame Bovary and C&P are in stock at Borders. However the Aussie Borders will not ship internationally. I had a friend willing to bring me the books back from Sydney.

I love books with designs like this, and have admired these ones in Borders shops too. When I was growing up, many good books were done in a similar way in Russia - hardcover, long-lasting, with designs printed into the cloth/board cover. Many of those books are still in my family's collection, while flimsy paperbacks or hardcovers with dust jackets have creased and broken over the years.

I usually read novels on my Sony eReader nowadays, so I can't really justify buying more expensive physical copies when I can get an Ebook version for less, but these are just the sort of books I'd love to have around on bookshelves in my house if I started buying paper books again! :)

Oh my lord. I do not need to be drooling over these. I don't need them, but I really, really want them. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for this post! I had no idea these existed. I'm totally buying Pride & Prejudice and Wuthering Heights! Too bad I can't afford the whole Jane Austen collection.

There are actually now 13 of them available on the Penguin US website (5 more came out last week).

I do love the look of these books...but this is like the 4th AT post in the last few days that's basically been a re-post of something from Design Sponge...I get that we're all inspiring each other, buuuuut...

http://mylittleapartment.blogspot.com/

It's funny. I have a very old copy of Little Women that follows this theme - but it's a 2 color pattern with girls in big skirts! Styles come around...

these are beautiful and in this day and age of technology it's great to see something that would promote reading the old fashioned way!!

I had all the available books but Crime and Punishment and Madame Bovary. I heard they were still available in-store at Chapters/Indigo in Canada. I called several stores in Canada and finally found one willing to send them to me (in the U.S.). I paid normal price for the books and shipping was about $60. Expensive but I am a completionist and NEEDED them all! Plus, I had paid the $13.50 price for the rest. If anyone is like me, definitely try it!

i love these books! i have 4 of them, and i am working on adding the rest to my collection.

Love these! Have all 20. They're beautiful.

I work at Penguin, so I get them for 70% off. Lucky me. There are more coming out in the US--I can find out if they're reprinting Madame Bovary and Crime and Punishment for the US market on Monday.

pencils, did you find anything out?

Yeah, I was disappointed the quality of the books themselves wasn't great. My favorite design is the one for Crime and Punishment.