Melville House Books

Most book publishers take a lot of pride in — and spend a lot of money on — well-designed covers. Author photos, too, can take more thought and money than the average reader may suspect. 

But as a recent post on the New Yorker‘s book blog notes, making sure the two match is often enough an overlooked area of design.

Consider, for example, the cover for a forthcoming book from Encounter called Thrift, and the photograph of its author, Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, as seen here in Encounter’s fall catalogue ….

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.