TUAW review and giveaway: Twelve South BookBook for iPad

When fellow TUAW blogger Dave Caolo teased you with the news of Twelve South releasing the US$69.99 BookBook cover for iPad, you knew that a review and giveaway couldn’t be far behind. We’re happy to say that you’ll have a chance to win one of these beautiful iPad covers. But first, let’s give the BookBook for iPad a test flight.

It’s rather ironic that the sleek glass and aluminum iPad is inspiring a lot of old-school cases. The first out the door was the Dodo Case, a leather-bound tome that resembles a Moleskine in more ways than one. It has a hand-carved bamboo interior shell to hold the iPad in place, and an elastic band holds the cover closed when the iPad is not in use. These $59.95 cases have resulted in a resurgence in the book binding trade in San Francisco, and there’s a long waiting list for them. Minneapolis-based Pad&Quill also has a similar case called “The Case, Vol. 1” with a hand-carved birch interior lining.

The Dodo Case has spawned a host of imitators, including a number of blog posts from people who are creating their own Moleskine-type iPad cases by hand. A lot of iPad owners, however, were waiting to see what Twelve South would do for the iPad. This, after all, is the company that started the whole retro case market with the BookBook for MacBook Pro. Well, the wait is over, and now Twelve South is shipping their beautiful distressed leather book binding case for the iPad.

Gallery: Twelve South BookBook case for iPad