It has been very annoying , the actual cover art is printed on this loose paper that wraps around the book while the inside hard cover is left blank. Is there any purpose to this instead of just printing everything directly on the hard back cover material?
In: 79
That cover is called a dust jacket (sometimes dust cover).
It’s purpose is to protect the actual cover of the book from damage. The artwork goes on the dust jacket because it’s the bit you see.
You don’t need to keep it. The title is usually printed on the spine. If you’re into collecting rare books first editions etc they add considerable value though.
Whenever I read a book with a dust cover I immediately take it off and save it for later. That way, when I’m out and about, I don’t need to take as good care of my book, because when it goes back into my bookshelf, it looks as good as new with the preserved dust cover.
Also it’s a pain in the ass to keep around. It seems to crease and fall off all the time.
Book jackets are full colour to look visually appealing. Printing on a paper dust jacket is cheaper and a lot easier than doing it on the hard cover.
Everyone’s commenting that it’s for collectors but nobody is answering what sort of monster decided that books needed a cheap plastic dust jacket in the first place, or at least one that they print the fun stuff on while neglecting the actual book itself
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