My Most Beautiful Books • Kathrin von Phantásienreisen

Last year, I launched the new article series My Most Beautiful Books. In it, book lovers and book bloggers present their magnificent editions and beautiful bibliophile treasures. It’s a relaxed stroll through the bookshelves of avid readers, who share their passion and showcase their most stunning collector’s editions. The first contribution came from Karin, and now the series continues with another book blogger who also has a great eye for books and impeccable taste.

The second post is by Kathrin, who runs the book blog Phantásienreisen (phantasienreisen.de) and has already featured several beautiful collector’s editions there. I regularly visit her blog and really appreciate its variety – alongside classics, Kathrin also enjoys reading manga and graphic novels. Her blog has been around for over ten years, and there’s so much to discover. It’s definitely worth taking a look and browsing around. You’ll even find a very special, unique edition showcased there. Reading her article is highly recommended, as Kathrin shares some real insider tips and presents wonderful books. Now, I’ll hand over to Kathrin and am delighted that she’s part of this series.

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I grew up in a household with very few books and was therefore dependent on the local library’s collection. As much as I loved my regular visits there, I always longed for my own shelves filled with less-worn books. Discovering editions with ribbon bookmarks, embossing, colored or gilt edges, large color illustrations, or other decorative features felt like uncovering a great treasure to me.

For many years, I mainly found such beauties in the English-speaking world. The Penguin publishing house alone offers various collector’s editions across different price ranges — some with embroidered cover motifs, cloth bindings, or illustrations by modern artists. One of my favorites is the Penguin Orange Collection. It comprises twelve classics of American literature, including works by Shirley Jackson, Jack Kerouac, and Solomon Northup’s autobiography 12 Years a Slave. These paperback editions combine soft-touch covers with rough-cut pages (which admittedly took me some time to get used to). The covers, designed by Eric Nyquist, pay homage to the classic Penguin style, gleaming in vibrant orange and featuring illustrations with contours that shimmer in multiple hues.

Another beautifully designed edition is The Lord of the Rings, published by Houghton Mifflin to mark the 50th anniversary of the first volume’s release. It contains nearly everything a bibliophile could wish for: a slipcase, gilt edges, leather binding with gold and copper embossing, ribbon bookmarks, and two large maps. The only thing missing to make it truly perfect would be a few lovely illustrations.

Much simpler is the hardcover edition of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, published by Calla Editions: bound in beige linen and adorned only with striking wood engravings by Raymond Bishop. At 26 cm tall and weighing over 2 kilograms, however, this book is not exactly suited for travel reading.

Among the most elaborately designed books on my shelves are the classics published by design duo MinaLima (which the Coppenrath publishing house also brought to the German market a few years ago) and The Darwin Experience by John van Wyhe and National Geographic – all serendipitous finds during my trips to London. These books invite readers to participate and explore: they’re not only richly illustrated but also include cut-outs, removable letters and notes, as well as flaps and other interactive elements. I wish we had more of this on the (German) book market – and not just in children’s literature!

In general, lavishly designed books are often found not at large publishers but at small presses or as part of crowdfunding projects – such as the richly decorated Celtic Faeries by illustrator Jean-Baptiste Monge – or through unusual collaborative ventures. For example, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his brother Dan founded the collaborative platform HITRECORD in 2004. People from all over the world work together there on all kinds of creative projects: audio productions, short films, graphic works, and of course books such as the Tiny Books of Tiny Stories and the recently released The Art of Breaking Up. The latter explores the end of relationships – sometimes humorous, sometimes sad – through short stories, games, checklists, and more. Since every breakup has two perspectives, The Art of Breaking Up was designed as a reversible book. Several hundred people contributed to it, making the result wonderfully diverse. I’ve yet to find another creative community like HITRECORD’s that produces such collaborative, international, and independent works – neither in publishing nor elsewhere.

In Germany, the appreciation for lovingly designed books developed much later than in the English-speaking world. For a long time, illustrations were mainly reserved for children’s books. The children’s classics illustrated by Robert Ingpen, published by Knesebeck Verlag, exude a special nostalgic charm – and are just as enjoyable for adults (perhaps even more so than for younger readers).

The picture books, illustrated short story collections, and novels by Benjamin Lacombe transcend both age and genre. My admiration for the French artist began nine years ago with his edition of Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Since then, he has continued to surprise me: from a book adaptation of the opera Madame Butterfly in the form of a multi-meter-long fresco or pop-up book, to a silk-bound homage to Frida Kahlo, to illustrations for classics such as Notre-Dame de Paris, an Encyclopedia of Fairies with laser-cut pages created together with author and partner Sébastien Perez, a comic about Leonardo da Vinci, and illustrations of Japanese ghost stories by Lafcadio Hearn / Yakumo Koizumi – Benjamin Lacombe’s range is astonishing. Just as he explores different themes and genres, he also experiments with creative formats – and I’m deeply grateful that a small publisher like Jacoby & Stuart has made these extraordinary books, with all their unique qualities, accessible to a German-speaking audience for so many years.

Of course, there are now many more beautifully crafted books for adult readers – especially among the classics. On Tobi’s site, you can discover a wealth of these treasures, so I’ll end my little tour through my shelves here and invite you to continue browsing on Lesestunden.

If, among all the beauties the book world has to offer, you still haven’t found your favorite or are searching for a unique, bibliophile gift for a loved one, you might consider commissioning a one-of-a-kind edition. Inspired by Tobi, I treated myself a few years ago to a luxury edition of the original version of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, for which I was able to choose the binding, edge color, ribbon bookmark, and endpapers myself. A truly exceptional experience – and a book of both material and emotional value!