Before dust jackets wrapped every hardcover behind a shield of paper, a book's binding was its only advertisement, and the shelves of bibliophiles were lined with staid leather-bound tomes. Then came the Art Deco designs of Pierre Legrain and Rose Adler, who transformed bookbinding into a medium of playful and dazzling experimentation and craftsmanship. Their colorful, imaginative works, often made in exotic materials, are found only in a few prized collections and have rarely been available to the general public. now, this selection of more than sixty designs, colored-paper maquettes, and realized bindings are collected in one exquisite volume, with insightful texts introducing the work and discuss its revolutionary effect on modern design. <BR>Among the brilliant array of bindings are ones made especially for works by Colette, Paul Verlaine, Andre Gide, Guillaume Apollinaire, Stephane Mallarme, Michel Leiris, and Jean Giraudoux. <BR><I>Art Deco Bookbinding</I> accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Science Library beginning in February 2004.