[can-talk] Unusual binding of old books

Malmsbury Historical Society has a remnant of the old Mechanics Institute
Library, of some roughly 300 books. Included in these are about 20 volumes
which are amongt the oldest of the collection (so date to about 1860s
onwards) and which are covered in fabric with advertisements printed on
them. These advertisements include Mariwari Tea, Silverstar Starch and
Empire Cocoa. I am aware that the last two brands were trademarks of Robert
Harper & Co. Ltd [see
http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/archives/collections/pdfs/harper.pdf
 ]
and that the company acquired the mills of W. Degrave & Co., one of which is
located between Kyneton and Malmsbury. I am attaching an image of one of
these book covers and wonder if anyone else has seen this type of covering
before and knows anything about who would have done it, how and why. Is this
something peculiar to Malmsbury with a link to the loca mills or has it
occurred elsewhere? Any information would be useful. Mechanics Insititute of
Victoria is not aware of other examples to date.

Sue Walter
Malmsbury Historical Society
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