the book collector
However, this did not dissuade them from continuing to purchase prize books in their thousands: as long as the recipients were happy, they were too. The Great War The outbreak of the Great War in 1914 had a massive impact on the book industry as e V orts were made to save paper. As a result, low-quality versions of the prize book began to appear, with cov- ers stripped of their characteristic decorative features in favour of simple and minimal details. Covers and spines from the 1914 to 1918 period show no examples of gilt or blocking, typography is far less elaborate, and images are restricted to two-tone or black and white designs. The book’s exterior also evolved from a cloth to a more economic buckram weave. This change can be noted specifically in the dramatic decrease in the weight of the prize book from 480g in 1913 to 330g in 1914 – a di V erence of 150g. Within the book, esparto paper continued to be used, albeit with a reduced thickness and featuring a more compressed printed font. The most marked change, however, was the introduction of advertising on the book’s endpapers. Typical adverts were for food products, such as Fry’s cocoa and Edwards’ Yorkshire puddings, but items such as Swan pens and Pears soap were also promoted. Over the course of the war, the specific marketing of prize books by publishers declined. Whereas prize books had previously been categorised under ‘gift and reward’ series in catalogues, many became rebranded through a change in the name of the series or by simply dropping the tagline ‘gift and reward books’. For example, Ward, Lock & Co.’s 1918 catalogue shows the Lily Series, which previously had the strapline ‘Gift Books, Prizes and Rewards’, now rebranded as the New Lily series. As there was nothing within a physical copy of a prize book to state that it was one, publishers were able to rearrange their stock easily and produce new lists to give people what they wanted. While this vast change in the marketing of prize books was likely due to the reduced ability to rely on the book’s aesthetic appeal, as well as to the diminished resources and disposable income of institu- tions, it was also influenced by the fact that the vast devastation and
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