Style 1
Material: flexible leatherette
Colors: brown, green
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text
Front: "BL" in gothic text
In Use: 1917-1918 or 1919
Style 2
Material: flexible leatherette (but hardbound examples exist)
Colors: red (evidently Fall 1918 only), brown, green, blue
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; double bars at spine top and bottom
Front: "BL" in gothic text
In Use: 1918-1924 (perhaps to 1925)
Style 3
Material: flexible leatherette (but a few hardbound examples exist)
Colors: brown, green
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; double bars at spine top and bottom
Front: image of scribe monk at desk
In Use: 1923-1925
Style 4
Material: flexible leatherette (but late 1928/early 1929 issues exist in hard balloon cloth transitional bindings)
Colors: brown, green, blue
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; double bars at spine top and bottom
Front: Bernhart torchbearer image
In Use: 1925-1929
Taller versions exist in this format to accommodate larger sized plates. Noted are Lawrence's "The Rainbow" in a first edition as well as a France's "Revolt of the Angels."
Also see the section in the article on gift sets describing the 1928 keratol bindings.
Style 4.5 (transitional bindings)
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Colors: red, blue, green, brown
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; double bars at spine top and bottom
Front: Bernhart torchbearer image
In Use: January through March of 1929
End Papers: either Bernhart or Kent
Both the colophon and spine look like binding 4, but the balloon cloth -- and sometimes Kent endpapers -- are precursors of binding 5.
Style 5a
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Colors: red, possibly more
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; double lines at spine top; grape vine image at spine bottom
Front: Kent torchbearer image
In Use: April 1929 (?)
A very short-lived design composed of a double-bar spine top like the 4.5 but all other elements of the 5. This was either a transitional design or a flat-out anomaly.
Style 51
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Colors: red, blue, green, brown
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; grape vine image at spine bottom
Front: Kent torchbearer image stamped in gold
In Use: April 1929 - May (?) 1930
Barry Neavill notes that this design required a large amount of gold leaf and added half a cent per volume to the binding cost. That extra half-cent doomed it to a short life. The seven titles published during summer and early fall of 1930 retained the grape vine on the spine but blind-stamped the torchbearer on the front cover. (See Style 52, immediately following.)
Huxley's Point Counter Point was the last title published in this binding.
Style 52
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; grape vine image at spine bottom
Front: blindstamped Kent torchbearer image
In Use: May 1930 - November 1930
Style 6
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Colors: red, blue, green, brown
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; "MODERN LIBRARY" at base
Front: Kent torchbearer image somewhat smaller than style 51
In Use: November 1930 - May 1931
The first title to appear in this binding was The Philosophy of Plato.
Style 7
Material: stiffer balloon cloth
Colors: red, blue, green, brown
Width: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 6 5/8 inches
Spine: gold text; overprint ML image and "MODERN LIBRARY" at base
Front: Kent torchbearer image somewhat smaller than style 51
In Use: 1931-1939
Taller versions exist in this format to accommodate larger sized plates. Among others are Conrad's Lord Jim, Edmonds' Rome Haul (1st), Glasgow's Barren Ground (1st), James' Portrait of a Lady, Lawrence's Women In Love, Lewis' Arrowsmith, and Spinoza's Philosophy.
Barry Neavill points out that it was the pleasing format of Stone's Lust for Life and Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales that, among other reasons, moved Modern Libary to go to the Style 8 format.
Style 8
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard (Blumenthal design)
Colors: red, blue, green, gray
Top stain: gray, red, green
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Kent torchbearer followed by label in contrasting color to boards with gold lettering
Front: Kent torchbearer image within gold outline; above image is smaller enclosed square label in contrasting color to boards with gold lettering
In Use: 1939-1962
Jackson's "Lost Weekend" was bound in a slightly taller version to accommodate larger plates.
For some detailed comments about early releases of this binding, see About Blumenthal Bindings.
Style 9
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Kent torchbearer followed by gold lettering enclosed within gold rectangle
Front: blindstamped right-facing Kent torchbearer image enscribed within oval
In Use: Spring 1963 thru September 1963 (very shortlived)
Style 10
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Kent torchbearer (several designs) followed by gold lettering enclosed within gold rectangle
Front: blindstamped right-facing Kent torchbearer image enscribed within hexagon followed by blindstamped "MODERN LIBRARY"
In Use: later 1963 and 1964
Style 11
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Kent torchbearer (several designs) followed by bar, lettering, another bar, and "MODERN LIBRARY" all in gold
Front: blindstamped right-facing Kent torchbearer image enscribed within hexagon followed by blindstamped "MODERN LIBRARY"
In Use: 1963-1967
Odd combinations of spine/front panel torchbearer combs exist; click here to see a page of them!!!
Style 12
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Kent torchbearer (several designs) followed by bar, lettering, another bar, and "MODERN LIBRARY" all in gold.
Front: blindstamped lowercase "ml" enscribed within large blindstamped single line design
End papers: Spring titles (Renaissance Philosophy: The Italian Philosophers; Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely & Lady in the Lake; Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation) all have tan Kent endpapers. Fall titles have Fujita end papers. (Undatable variant reported with blank endpapers.)
In Use: 1967 (very shortlived)
Some anomalies in spine design have been reported.
Style 13
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 7/8 inches
Height: 7 1/4 inches
Spine: Fujita torchbearer followed by bar, lettering, another bar, and "MODERN LIBRARY" all in silver
Front: blindstamped lowercase "ml" enscribed within large blindstamped single line design
In Use: 1967-1969
Style 14
Material: linen cloth over stiff cardboard
Width: 4 5/8 inches
Height: 7 1/2 - 7 11/16 inches
(NOTE: dimensions are the only distinguishing characteristics from Style 13)
Spine: Fujita torchbearer followed by bar, lettering, another bar, and "MODERN LIBRARY" all in silver (sometimes black)
Front: blindstamped lowercase "ml" enscribed within large blindstamped single line design
In Use: 1969-1974
