Borzoi Books Aesthetics

Borzoi Books Aesthetics

A collection of L.A.G. Strong’s books were published in New York by Alfred K. Knopf publishing house, including an American edition of The Minstrel Boy in 1937. Although the text remains the same, the aesthetics of the book are different between the New York and London editions. The American edition has a design imprinted on the front cover that seems to be an author logo of some sorts. There is a defined “S” in the center of the logo, and the letters above presumably read “LAG,” the author’s initials. This same logo appears on another of LAG Strong’s Borzoi Books entitled The Sea Wall. Both books also have a similar spine design consisting of a pattern of text and lineal designs. Published four years earlier in 1933, the Borzoi edition of The Sea Wall is illustrated with much more color than The Minstrel Boy. The opening spread of The Sea Wall is printed with a repeating colored design of the Borzoi Books logo, and the title page is colored with a teal ink, while The Minstrel Boy’s title spread appears in black and white. Was The Sea Wall given more illustrative details because it is a novel whereas The Minstrel Boy is a work of criticism and biography? Or did Alfred K. Knopf’s standards of aesthetics change as time went on?

Alfred K. Knopf

Fales Collection, Manhattan College Library
The University of Texas at Brownsville Library

New York: Alfred A. Knopf

1937
1933

L.A.G. Strong

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group