On Endpapers and Flyleaves

Mark Twain once had the pleasure of quelling a wayward rumor by announcing, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." The same, it would seem, could equally be said for books.

How many times in the past decade have we been told of the imminent death of the book? And yet, despite the growing proliferation of digital tablets and readers, the traditional book arts remain remarkably rosy cheeked.

We would never be presumptuous enough to claim great insight into the future habits of the reading world, but it appears increasingly as though some people will prefer their words on screen, others on paper. In the same vein, some types of publications may migrate naturally towards soft copy, while others will continue inhabiting a hard copy space in the world of publishing. Some publications may decide to straddle the two, working with and benefitting from the advantages of both worlds.  

If anything, digital readers may prove a boost to the traditional world of books and book design by opening up new ways of viewing the medium, and even allowing designers to place more emphasis on those things that make books so special, like endpapers and flyleaves, headbands and tailbands, dust jackets and bookmarks...