From the FAQ:

Were there any leather-bound
Modern Library editions?
Specially bound copies of Modern Library titles were occasionally offered in the 1930s as Christmas specials, especially to department stores such as Womrath's department store in New York City (1932) and Macy's.  Modern Library bound selected Giants in leather (some half leather, others three quarter leather) mostly between 1936 and 1938. They sold for $5.00 and were primarily intended as Christmas gift books. Ten Giants (including Keats & Shelley and Gilbert & Sullivan) were bound in morocco in 1937.

For detailed illustrated discussions of binding types and materials, see Quick Guide to Binding Styles.

from Gross, Henry. Simplified Bookbinding. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1976.

 Modern Library editions were a favorite in binding classes, so you're liable to see some titles in leather not made by Modern Library itself.

Contributors to this FAQ answer include:
Barry Neavill John Wolansky Bob Riedel
Benjamin L. Clark

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