“But sir, who will guard the dust jackets?” “Worse dust jackets.”

In years past, many book collectors made the mistake of trashing the dust jacket of the books they purchased. They didn’t realize at the time that a dust jacket can greatly increase the value of the book it’s protecting as much as three times or more. Dust jackets began as a way to protect the book from dust, dirt and other environmental contaminants. But they quickly evolved to include marketing messages and interesting cover art. Strangely enough, we are now in an era where collectors buy dust jacket protectors-a dust jacket for the dust jacket.

When dust jackets first appeared, they had a single function: to protect the book itself from damaging particles of dust and dirt. Early dust jackets were fairly plain and many book collectors got into the habit of simply discarding the dust jacket soon after purchase. Sometimes the reason for trashing the dust jacket was as simple as making their bookshelves look neater and more aligned.

Publishers soon realized they too were throwing something away: all that empty space on the cover. The dust jacket quickly evolved into a sales and marketing tool. Not only did book publishers add elements to make the book attractive to buyers and to stand out from the crowd, they also added information about themselves and other books that were available. This extra material probably didn’t cause collectors to change their habits regarding throwing dust covers away. But it did lay the groundwork for what was to come.

One reason that dust jackets are highly sought after today is that they give buyers a good idea of the true condition of the book. Dust jackets were and still are one of the most fragile parts of the book. The thinking is that if the dust jacket as aged well without damage, that means the book inside is almost certainly in pristine condition. Suddenly, everyone regretted ever throwing away the dust jackets.

With the premium buyers now pay for good-condition dust jackets, a whole new line of products has been spawned-the dust jacket protector. Although this may sound far-fetched to anyone not into collecting books, the dust jacket protector is a serious item. It is a dust jacket for the dust jacket. It protects the original dust jacket and increases the value of the book as years pass.

If you choose to add dust jacket protectors to some of the books in your collection, be sure you find protectors that actually say “archival quality.” You also should choose designs that require no attachment to the original dust jacket. After all, you wouldn’t want your dust jacket protector to actually harm the dust jacket.