Beautiful books

Find beautiful decorative books to decorate your home from vintage paperbacks to complete sets, leather-bound volumes and coffee-table books.

Illustrated books are the combination of words and art on the page. This list of influential illustrated books includes world famous artists, specialist book illustrators, pioneers from the Golden Age of Illustration, children's picture books, a diary, alphabet books, and more.

Books of Hours were medieval bestsellers. Sandra Hindman, an expert on medieval manuscripts, explains why these books were, and still are, so important.

The New Naturalist Series is an on-going series of books published by Collins that focuses on natural history. The series, famous for its dust jacket designs, began in 1945 with Butterflies by E.B. Ford and more than 100 titles have been published.

Andrew Lang was a Scottish poet, novelist and literary critic, but his enduring legacy is not his prodigious writing. Lang is best remembered for his contribution to folklore and storytelling thanks to his 12-volume 'Fairy Books' collection.

In no particular order, we present a selection of iconic book covers that we love. If you saw these particular editions in a bookshop window, then we believe you would stop and stare.

From abstract design to detailed illustrations, enjoy these gorgeous vintage dust jackets.

Explore our selection of beautiful rare bibles and learn the stories behind world famous editions.

Arthur Rackham was an illustrator in the late 19th and early 20th century. The first of Rackham's illustrations to be published in a book were in 1893, in The Dolly Dialogues. Rackham never looked back. Learn more about this remarkable artist.

Standing like an island amid the sea of cheap mass produced paperbacks and formulaic new releases, is the Folio Society. This organization is half publisher, half book club, and was founded in 1947 on the principle that books should be beautiful to the eye as well as captivating to the mind.

Art Deco, which originated in Paris, is one of the most memorable of all design movements thanks to its modern feel and use of mathematical and geometric shapes. Oddly the actual label of 'Art Deco' was not popularised until 1968 when art historian Bevis Hillier published a book called Art Deco of the 20s and 30s.

The Franklin Library, a division of The Franklin Mint, was a publisher of fine collector edition books from the early 1970s until 2000.

The Limited Editions Club of New York was started in 1929 by George Macy. At 29-years-old, he was an avid reader who wanted to make his living from books. His business revolved around publishing beautifully illustrated classic titles in relatively small quantities with club members paying a subscription.

Penguin Drop Caps is a series of 26 rainbow-hued hardcover editions of literature's finest treasures. An edition for each letter of the alphabet, the series features authors from A (Jane Austen) to Z (Carlos Ruiz Zafon).

The Book of Miracles is perhaps not the right name. 'The book of biblical drama and things we don't understand' may be a better title. This beautiful book about a book is published by Taschen. It contains a facsimile of a mysterious manuscript from the 16th century.

Sandra Hindman is a leading expert on Medieval and Renaissance manuscript illumination. Professor Emerita of Art History at Northwestern University and owner of Les Enluminures, Sandra is author, co-author, or editor of more than 10 books, as well as numerous articles on history, illuminated manuscripts and medieval rings. AbeBooks posed a number of basic questions about medieval manuscripts and Sandra was kind enough to answer them.