You really can’t judge a book by its cover.
In fact, depending on who covered it, you may not be able to tell what’s inside.
Especially if the book has been through the ministrations of Thatcher Wine’s Boulder-based Juniper Books, a business that treats books both as art and as investments by assembling book collections for clients or finding decorative solutions for their home libraries.
Though most of his customers are high-end homeowners who want first editions, leather-bound collections of classic books, or a matching set of an author’s oeuvre, some prefer books as a design element in a room. These clients may not care what’s between the title page and the final page as long as the cover and size meet their home-library specifications. Clients also tend to be sanguine about Wine’s fee. He charges by the linear foot. Prices vary according to the project, but tend toward the if-you-have-to-ask-you-probably-can’t-afford-it range.
One potential client, for instance, requested a collection of several sets of topical books. This person, who hosts many fundraising parties, wanted one set of political tomes and a second set of religious books. The logic: Each set could be traded out to avoid potentially alienating guests.
The client’s own books were in a private part of the house, away from the eyes of guests who might not agree with the host’s actual reading preferences.
At Wine’s own north Boulder house, his tastes run to elegant period leather-bound classics that anchor the home’s clean, spare lines.
His bookshelves, set against walls rarely touched by the light flooding the rest of the home, include sets of Jane Austen, the sisters Bronte, Charles Dickens, and the Charles Morris 15-volume set of historic folk tales and fairy tales. The books reflect both his background as a Dartmouth history major and his avocation of collecting rare and valuable books.
The books in Wine’s personal stash of first editions are clad in their original dust jackets. So are those in his wife’s assortment of American Indian literature.
But here and there are signs of Wine’s fondness for marrying design and literature. A bookshelf in the living room holds collectible copies of classics bound in brown, gold and green leather — colors that echo the room’s decor.
There’s a child-sized armchair in the corner of his light- filled living room. Nearby, a chipper set of matching bright, tall books boast covers that align to create a ladybug. The set was made for the Wine family’s two young children.
Between the red-and-green covers are various children’s favorites, including “The Snowy Day,” by Ezra Jack Keats. Each book includes the legend “Jasmine’s First Library”; personalized service is offered to Juniper Books clients.
“Children’s books have so many different sizes and colors that it’s nice to make them into a design,” Wine says.
With the help of his graphic designer, Wine created the ladybug image, starting with Photoshop. That’s the foundation for the block designs that are increasingly popular with his clients. The first was a set of books that line up to form an engraving of an elephant.
Even with business brisk at Juniper Books, Wine is thinking of new ways to lengthen his reach. Five years after establishing Juniper Books in 2001, he focused his business on building private libraries. Today, he completes about 150 projects a year, charging between $5 and $50 per book (not including collectible books), and around $100,000 for a complete library.
As he tightens his focus on design, Wine is beginning to think about modifying bookshelves, as well. Wouldn’t it be cool, he asks, if a book with a magnetized binding could be displayed flat on a metal strip that served as a practically one-dimensional shelf?
“Imagine just sticking the book on the bedroom wall before you turn out the light at night,” he says.
In his house, that book would not be plucked from, say, his cherished Mark Twain collection.
“If I were to read Mark Twain,” Wine says, “I’d read a new one. The collectible ones are too fragile.”
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
