The cover is not a pastiche. It reproduces a real book binding made in 1893 for a collection of Shakespeare's poems, created at the height of the Art Nouveau movement, with the sinuous curves and plant forms that made the style famous. It has been embossed and finished in gold foil, and the page edges are gilded to match.

Inside are 160 pages of premium smooth-finish 120 gsm paper, acid-free and archival, ruled in light gray. A pocket inside the back cover takes tickets, notes and mementos, and a matching elastic closure keeps the whole thing shut in a bag.

At 5 by 7 inches it is the size that actually gets carried, which is why this format outsells every other. Sturdy bookbound binding, endsheets chosen to match, and a cover most people turn over twice before they open it.