I admit it, I buy books for their covers as well as their content, and for the illustrations that interleaf their writing. Look forward to sharing an eclectic selection, old and new.

My kind of cover – Under Milk Wood

A few months ago we went to our favourite flea market and, as we were leaving, saw a pile of old LPs leaning against a rubbish bin. It appears the seller had concluded nobody would buy them and they were too heavy to schlep back home. We rifled through and picked out...

The Old Man and the Sea

The finest book cover illustration I've seen for this slim, timeless, moving book, wrapping around the back cover and even into the back flyleaf. Oddly, there is no mention of who designed the jacket. The colours and lines are marvelous.And that font! 'Ernest...

Lettres de Mon Moulin – Daudet

These charming children's illustrations of Daudet turned up at a flea-market, and I have several versions including this selection of his Lettres de Mon Moulin, and one featuring a specific story with it, 'La chèvre de M. Seguin'.

Russian tales and legends

There is a dark-forested haunting element to the illustrations in this French rendition of Russian stories. They are part of a series I've been collecting at the flea market, using a range of fresh and unusual illustration styles: see also the Tales from...

All good publishers have a department of exceptions.

Gabriel Zaid – So Many Books