The Safavid Dynasty is often considered to represent the Islamic Golden Age, with its artists and creative methods still celebrated today. This Safavid Indigo pencil case incorporates the symmetry and filigree designs that are the hallmarks of this binding tradition.

Combining the Latin words “filum� (thread) and “granum� (seed), silver “filigree� describes an art form that is achieved by first die cutting a base layer of silver sheets and then meticulously etching elaborate grooves into its surface. The polished binding seen on Paperblanks Silver Filigree Maya Blue journal is inspired by a 1697 French binding of Johann Arndt’s Paradiesgärtlein.

This glorious design comes from Sangorski & Sutcliffe, a world-renowned British bindery best known for their bejewelled cover of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. Established in London in 1901, Sangorski & Sutcliffe quickly rose to become one of the 20th century’s most important bookbinders. They were especially celebrated for their jewelled bindings, like the one reproduced here. Originally crafted in 1922 to house Rudyard Kipling’s 1897 “Recessional� poem written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it incorporated real turquoise, aquamarine and ruby gemstones, alongside medieval-style illumination by Alberto Sangorski and gold tooling by George Sutcliffe.

This blue and gold Paperblanks Equinoxe Azure journal reproduces a 1688 binding protecting L’office de la Semaine Sainte. The original binding was adorned “à la fanfare,� a handtooled pattern edged in gilt. “Fanfare,� which was a style popular in the seventeenth century, required tremendous skill on the part of the bookbinder and was reserved for books of great importance.

This blue and gold Paperblanks Equinoxe Azure journal reproduces a 1688 binding protecting L’office de la Semaine Sainte. The original binding was adorned “à la fanfare,� a handtooled pattern edged in gilt. “Fanfare,� which was a style popular in the seventeenth century, required tremendous skill on the part of the bookbinder and was reserved for books of great importance.

Paperblanks Gold Inlay journal cover reproduces a “Stil der Neorenaissance� (neo-Renaissance style) design popular in 19th-century Germany. The original binding, composed of solid metal, was covered in a fine layer of gold which was then meticulously engraved by skilled craftsmen. Bindings like this were highly valued and were frequently adorned with silk, cloisonné enamels or precious stones.

This blue and gold Paperblanks Equinoxe Azure journal reproduces a 1688 binding protecting L’office de la Semaine Sainte. The original binding was adorned “à la fanfare,� a handtooled pattern edged in gilt. “Fanfare,� which was a style popular in the seventeenth century, required tremendous skill on the part of the bookbinder and was reserved for books of great importance.

William Morris (1834–1896), one of the most celebrated practitioners of the Arts and Crafts Movement, created woven and printed textile designs using the ancient technique of hand woodblock printing. As seen on this pencil case, his evocations of the natural world have become design classics.

This glorious design comes from Sangorski & Sutfcliffe, a world-renowned British bindery best known for their bejewelled cover of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. They were especially celebrated for their jewelled bindings, like the one reproduced here. Originally crafted in 1922 to house Rudyard Kipling’s 1897 “Recessional� poem written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it incorporated real turquoise, aquamarine and ruby gemstones.

The design reproduced on this journal cover, originally crafted by Riviere and Son, centres around a sensitive plant surrounded by other richly hued flowers, foliage and butterflies. The binding was used for The Sensitive Plant and Early Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley and is a celebration of the creative spirit.

These intricate details of spring and summer flowers are from an 18th-century Japanese paper screen by artist Watanabe Shiko (1683–1755), who painted in the Rinpa style (and was reputedly a ronin!). Rinpa is a leading historical school of Japanese painting, established in 17th-century Kyoto, whose artists were known for working in a range of formats, notably screens, fans, hanging scrolls and kimono textiles.The design on our cover shows a section of a screen with various types of blooms often believed to follow the ancient Japanese language of flowers, called Hanakotoba. We are honoured to have the use of this original work from the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford.

Ancient spiritual practices meet modern digital art in our Humming Dragon design, featuring the work of Android Jones.

With colours at once psychedelic and hyper-modern, and imagery that combines Eastern iconography and a cutting-edge science fiction aesthetic, Jones is an artist who draws on old traditions and those yet to be born.

This Baroque-inspired cover comes from a 1725 binding of The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, a masterpiece of Italian literature. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) was an Italian writer and poet who helped lay the foundations of Renaissance humanism. With its scope from humour to tragedy and its vivid narrative structure, The Decameron – his defining work – remains an affirmation of humanity and moral values even when read today.