Cover to 'The electric light in our homes', 1884

Cover to 'The electric light in our homes', 1884. Decorative binding for 'The electric light in our homes' by Robert Hammond, published in London in 1884. The development of publishers' book bindings in the late nineteenth century led to a huge increase of bright, decorative covers for popular science and technology books. Most were unsigned by artists employed by the publishers. This example in green publishers' cloth shows a decorative electric light above the title, blocked in black. Around the edge, the gold lines for an electric circuit that is attached to four different bulbs, with the surnames of their inventors blocked in gold. ©SSPL/Science Museum