About Us

How It All Started, 1995-2001

Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC had its beginnings in 1995.  I had already been collecting books for some time and found it discouraging that I would never be able to acquire many of the books I wanted in jacket.  As my own library grew, I met many fellow collectors and was amazed at the remarkable jacket art I saw on their books.  Because I had access to their collections, the idea of making my own jackets was conceived. Having spent over twenty years in commercial printing (working with images in traditional and digital pre-press departments and manipulating film and computer files for printing on offset presses), I had already developed particular skills that were a huge asset in achieving the results I wanted with the facsimiles. Thus, I slowly began building a small assortment of jackets for myself. 

Eventually, the results of my labor became popular enough to begin offering these facsimiles to others. So in 1998, Black and White Books offered to sell my facsimiles on AbeBooks. Originally, I only intended to share whatever jackets I had already made for myself. However, it soon became obvious how important the archiving of these dust jacket images was for bibliographic and historical reasons.  Therefore, my focus shifted to archiving images of dust jackets and the Dust Jacket Archives was born. Since 1999, I've been traveling and scanning interesting collections all over North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.  During my travels, I've made numerous new friends and have had access to tremendous collections and, thus, continued to add to the Dust Jacket Archives. I am extremely grateful for the generosity of these contacts, without whom the Archives would not have been possible.  

By offering facsimile dust jackets to the public, it enables us to support the Dust Jacket Archives project.  It also provides an opportunity for anyone to have access to these great jackets. Customers order jackets for a variety of reasons. They have been used as props in plays or movies and for bibliographic resources. Occasionally, family members of the authors or artists have acquired them as well as publishers who wish to produce or reissue a book. I have had magazines and authors order them to use in the stories and books they are producing. Most commonly, however, these jackets are purchased by collectors who wish to protect their books with a quality facsimile, allowing them to enjoy the artwork they might otherwise never see.

Changes from 2000-2025

In 2000, I left the printing company I was working for in order to focus full time on these jackets. Two years later I established my own website and asked Black and White Books to remove my listings from AbeBooks.

By 2009, the Archive had grown so large that I could no longer adequately keep up with the scanning, restoring, updating, and managing of all the other facets needed to run a business.  So I asked my sister, Gail, to join me in archiving these dust jackets.  Her job has been to organize, research, and list new scans, and between the two of us, we were now able to upload new jackets to the website on a regular basis.  

By 2021, my son, Seth Terry, took charge of the printing and shipping division of Facsimile Dust Jackets.  With Seth proficiently managing this part of the business, it allowed me to be free to concentrate on restorations and growing the Dust Jacket Archives. 

As of January 1, 2026

Our humble beginnings have grown from a few jackets to a website offering over 16,800 products for sale.  However, I have scanned over 68,500 unique titles. And if variants and duplicates are included, this would amount to about 72,000 jackets.  Many of these jackets will never make it onto my website, as they are either too damaged or are so common that it is not logical to restore them. However, these jackets are still an important component to the Dust Jacket Archives.   

Seth has now taken over the entire business. Although Seth is now the new face of Facsimile Dust Jackets and the Dust Jacket Archives, I will continue in the background, scanning and restoring new dust jackets and expanding the Archives.  In addition, Gail and I will continue to upload exciting new jackets to the website on a regular basis.

It has been an amazing journey, and I often reflect on how I couldn’t have found a better career.  And although I am stepping into semi-retirement, it actually seems like I have been retired for years, since my job has never felt like “work.” Instead, it has been a real pleasure to supply you, our customers, with a unique collection of dust jackets.  Thank you for your loyalty and friendship and making these past twenty-eight years truly extraordinary.  It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Feel free to reach out to either Seth or me with any concerns you may have, taking note of our new contact information.

Mark Terry