Dust Jacket.

Nobody loves a book just because of its dust jacket. Still, it's an incentive to pick up a book, leaf idly through it, scan the blurb, and then either trundle off to the counter with it, or shelve it if it turns out to sound naff or is by J.D Salinger.

Which isn't to say that cover art should be neglected despite the book it shields. David Pelham - designer of the cover of A Clockwork Orange - is vaunted as the godhead of dust jacket artists, and probably rightly so. Paul Rand has more sway over modern writing than some publishing dons, and authors clamour to get his off-hand signature scrawled on the inside cover. Elaine Ramos's covers are a slanty netherworld of colour blocks and monotone fissures; she rakes in a fortune each year designing book covers and, not co-incidentally,architectural designs for art galleries, including The Tate Modern.

Sometimes the writer or photographer who complements the book becomes iconic, sometimes not. Sometimes the author creates their own mock-up; sometimes not. Sometimes the dust jacket is connected explicitly with the book; sometimes, merely obliquely. As a general - very general - concept, the cover echoes the feel of the contents, binds theme and form, and refines literary technique into a image.

All of this doesn't mean you actually have to like the book itself though. Everyone knows a Famous Five cover (By that I mean an original, slightly foxed tatty version in a second-hand bookshop), but I'd rather blind myself with carbolic acid and fire ants than read a single word of the racist old bint's writing. I felt that way when I was five, I see no reason to change now.

Regardless, I like dust jackets very much. Even if nobody else does. Which may be the case. With that in mind, here are some good ones - some scanned in, some pinched off the internet. Permission has not been sought; as such, lawsuits from the illustrator or author are expected.I would say in my defence, however, that this is technically a form of advertising, and as a corollary to this, any publishers, authors, or cover artists who wish to send me a cheque, please message me when convenient and we can discuss figures. Thanks.