<P> Most jackets of this type were torn when they were opened and then discarded like gift - wrapping paper; they were not designed to be reused, and surviving examples are known on only a handful of titles . The scarcity of jackets of this type, together with the lack of written documentation from publishers of the period, makes it very hard to determine how widely these all - enclosing jackets were used during the period from 1820 to 1850, but they were probably common on ornately bound annuals and on some trade books . </P> <P> The earliest known dust jackets of the modern style, with flaps, which covered just the binding and left the text block exposed, date from the 1850s, although this type of jacket was probably in at least limited use some years earlier . This is the jacket that became standard in the publishing industry and is still in use today . It is believed that flap - style jackets were in general use by the 1880s, and probably earlier, although the number of surviving examples from the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s is too small to prove exactly when they became ubiquitous, and again, there are no known publishers' records that document the use of dust jackets during these decades . There are, however, enough surviving examples from the 1890s to state unequivocally that dust jackets were all but universal throughout that decade . They were probably issued more often than not by the 1860s and 1870s in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States . </P> <P> Throughout the nineteenth century, nearly all dust jackets were discarded at or soon after purchase . Many were probably discarded in bookstores as the books were put out for display, or when they were sold; there is evidence that this was common practice in England until World War I . The period from the 1820s to 1900 was a golden age for publishers' decorative bookbinding, and most dust jackets were much plainer than the books they covered, often simply repeating the main elements of the binding decoration in black on cream or brown paper . For this reason, most people preferred to display their books in their bindings, much as earlier generations had displayed their library books in their gold - tooled individual bindings, usually in leather or vellum . Even late in the nineteenth century there were still some publishers who were not using dust jackets at all (the English publisher Methuen is one example). Some firms, such as subscription houses which sold millions of cheap books door - to - door, probably never used them . </P> <P> Cloth dust jackets became popular late in the nineteenth century . These jackets, with the outer cloth usually reinforced with an underlayer of paper, were issued mostly on ornate gift editions, often in two volumes and often with a slipcase . Other types of publishers' boxes were also popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, including many made to hold multi-volume sets of books . The jackets on boxed volumes were often plain, sometimes with cutouts on the spine to allow the title or volume numbers of the books to be seen . </P>

What is a dust jacket on a paperback book