From A to Z, the Penguin Drop Caps series collects 26 unique hardcovers-featuring cover art by type superstar Jessica Hische
It all begins with a letter. Fall in love with Penguin Drop Caps, a new series of twenty-six collectible and gift-worthy hardcover editions, each with a type cover showcasing a gorgeously illustrated letter of the alphabet by superstar type designer Jessica Hische, whose work has appeared everywhere from Tiffany & Co. to Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom to Penguin's own bestsellers Committedand Rules of Civility. A collaboration between Jessica Hische and Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley, the series design encompasses foil-stamped paper-over-board cases in a rainbow-hued spectrum across all twenty-six book spines and a decorative stain on all three paper edges. Penguin Drop Caps debuts with an "A" for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, a "B" for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, and a "C" for Willa Cather's My Ántonia, and continues with more classics from Penguin.
B is for Brontë. A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzles and shocks readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom. Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit-which proves necessary when she takes a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving the man she loves?
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was the third of six children, and the eldest to survive into adulthood. Like her talented sisters Anne and Emily, Charlotte published poetry and prose under a pseudonym. She is distinguished as the first English woman novelist to be the subject of a full-length biography, in 1857.Jessica Hische is a letterer, an illustrator, a typographer, and a web designer. She currently serves on the Type Directors Club board of directors, has been named a Forbes magazine "30 under 30" in art and design. She lives in San Francisco, California, and Brooklyn, New York.
Show moreFrom A to Z, the Penguin Drop Caps series collects 26 unique hardcovers-featuring cover art by type superstar Jessica Hische
It all begins with a letter. Fall in love with Penguin Drop Caps, a new series of twenty-six collectible and gift-worthy hardcover editions, each with a type cover showcasing a gorgeously illustrated letter of the alphabet by superstar type designer Jessica Hische, whose work has appeared everywhere from Tiffany & Co. to Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom to Penguin's own bestsellers Committedand Rules of Civility. A collaboration between Jessica Hische and Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley, the series design encompasses foil-stamped paper-over-board cases in a rainbow-hued spectrum across all twenty-six book spines and a decorative stain on all three paper edges. Penguin Drop Caps debuts with an "A" for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, a "B" for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, and a "C" for Willa Cather's My Ántonia, and continues with more classics from Penguin.
B is for Brontë. A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzles and shocks readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom. Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit-which proves necessary when she takes a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving the man she loves?
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was the third of six children, and the eldest to survive into adulthood. Like her talented sisters Anne and Emily, Charlotte published poetry and prose under a pseudonym. She is distinguished as the first English woman novelist to be the subject of a full-length biography, in 1857.Jessica Hische is a letterer, an illustrator, a typographer, and a web designer. She currently serves on the Type Directors Club board of directors, has been named a Forbes magazine "30 under 30" in art and design. She lives in San Francisco, California, and Brooklyn, New York.
Show moreCHARLOTTE BRONTE was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, in 1816, the third of six children of Patrick and Maria Bronte. In 1820 her father was appointed perpetual curate of Haworth, a small town in the rapidly industrializing Pennines, on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. Mrs. Bronte died in 1821, and her sister, Elizabeth Branwell, came to take care of the children-Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Anne. In 1824 the four oldest girls were sent to a boarding school for daughters of the clergy (later to be fictionalized as "Lowood" in Jane Eyre). Maria and Elizabeth were taken ill at school, and returned home to die in 1825; Charlotte and Emily returned home in the summer of that year. For the next six years, the young Brontes were educated at home. They developed a rich fantasy life amongst themselves, constructing together the imaginary world of Glass Town and writing of it in dozens of microscopically printed 'books'. Charlotte and her brother Branwell invented their shared kingdom of Angria in 1834. From 1831 to 1832 Charlotte went as a pupil to Miss Wooler's boarding school for young ladies at Roe Head; she returned there as a teacher from 1835-8. After working for a period as a private governess, in 1842 she went with her sister Emily to study languages at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels, returning there as a teacher in 1843. She returned to Haworth in 1844. In 1846, at Charlotte's instigation, the Bronte sisters published Poems By Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Charlotte's first novel, The Professor, was rejected by several publishers, and not published until 1857. Jane Eyre appeared, and was an instant success, in 1847. Branwell Bronte died in September of 1848, Emily in December of the same year, and Anne in May 1849. Charlotte, the only survivor, continued to live at Haworth Parsonage with her father. Shirley was published in 1849 and Villette in 1853, both pseudonymously. In 1854 Charlotte married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls; she died 31 March 1855. JESSICA HISCHE is a letterer, illustrator, typographer, and web designer. She currently serves on the Type Directors Club board of directors, has been named a Forbes Magazine "30 under 30" in art and design as well as an ADC Young Gun and one of Print Magazine's "New Visual Artists". She has designed for Wes Anderson, McSweeney's, Tiffany & Co, Penguin Books and many others. She resides primarily in San Francisco, occasionally in Brooklyn, and can otherwise be found in airplanes en route to speaking engagements.
Winner of the 2012 Fifty Books/Fifty Covers show, organized by
Design Observer in association with AIGA and Designers & Books
Winner of the 2014 Type Directors Club Communication Design
Award
Praise for Penguin Drop Caps:
"[Penguin Drop Caps] convey a sense of nostalgia for the tactility
and aesthetic power of a physical book and for a centuries-old
tradition of beautiful lettering."
—Fast Company
“Vibrant, minimalist new typographic covers…. Bonus points for the
heartening gender balance of the initial selections.”
—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
"The Penguin Drop Caps series is a great example of the power of
design. Why buy these particular classics when there are less
expensive, even free editions of Great Expectations? Because
they’re beautiful objects. Paul Buckley and Jessica Hische’s fresh
approach to the literary classics reduces the design down to
typography and color. Each cover is foil-stamped with a cleverly
illustrated letterform that reveals an element of the story. Jane
Austen’s A (Pride and Prejudice) is formed by opulent peacock
feathers and Charlotte Bronte’s B (Jane Eyre) is surrounded by
flames. The complete set forms a rainbow spectrum prettier than
anything else on your bookshelf."
—Rex Bonomelli, The New York Times
"Drool-inducing."
—Flavorwire
"Classic reads in stunning covers—your book club will be
dying."
—Redbook
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