This came up while I was building a tier list of collector's editions and studying binding quality differences across publishers.
The International Collectors Library (ICL) was published by the Doubleday Book & Music Club starting in the 1940s. The books have faux leather or leatherette covers with gold embossing and look nice on a shelf, but they're not in the same tier as Easton Press or Franklin Library in terms of collectibility or resale value. Easton Press uses genuine leather and Smyth-sewn bindings. ICL books are more like a dressed-up book club edition. Still pleasant to own, but don't pay collector prices for them.
This came up while I was building a tier list of collector's editions and studying binding quality differences across publishers.
The International Collectors Library (ICL) was published by the Doubleday Book & Music Club starting in the 1940s. The books have faux leather or leatherette covers with gold embossing and look nice on a shelf, but they're not in the same tier as Easton Press or Franklin Library in terms of collectibility or resale value. Easton Press uses genuine leather and Smyth-sewn bindings. ICL books are more like a dressed-up book club edition. Still pleasant to own, but don't pay collector prices for them.