Penguin have just published a new series of books focussing on Great Food with 20 examples of the 'finest food writing from the last 400 years'. Like other Penguin series such as Great Ideas, Great Loves and English Journeys, these books are small paperbacks, containing sometimes edited essays often extracted from more substantial books.
The books are designed by Penguin's senior cover designer Coralie Bickford-Smith in a style relevant to the content. Lettering is by the Stephen Raw, an artist whose practice is concerned with 'language made visible'. They make a great - and collectable - series when seen all together but above are three of my favourites : A Taste of the Sun by Elizabeth David and (mainly for the titles) Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving by Hannah Glasse and A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig & Other Essays by (the inappropriately named) Charles Lamb
Like the Great Ideas series, designed by David Pearson, the covers feature embossed lettering and spot varnishes to pick out the details of the illustrations. Unlike the Great Ideas series, which are typographically-based and printed in two colours, the Great Food series is far more lavish - with backgrounds based on ceramic designs relevant to the period of writing and with simple illustrations of crockery and culinary utensils that place the books firmly in the domestic sphere. The spines of the books are printed in a rainbow of colours which would look great on a bookshelf - and appeal to the collector. A further charming detail is the Penguin logo complete with knife and fork.
I'm intrigued to see what the interiors of the books are like - I'll look out for them when I visit the London Book Fair next week.