[Ripplinger]

I would double check the dimensions of the cover for that particular book. 1040x1477 just seems an odd size. If I'm creating my own cover, I generally try to stick to the reader's resolution. Having a larger image sized down is usually just a waste of pixels that inflates the file size for no reason.

Is the image really named "Misericordia Readers Second Cover copy.jpg?" I would try renaming it to just "cover.jpg" and see if that helps. I've seen overly long filenames do strange things in some programs.

If neither of those helps, I'd try changing preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" to preserveAspectRatio="yes" (or "none" would work), just to be sure Kobo isn't having a problem with the xMidYMid (I never remember seeing it in any book). But I usually prefer stretching a cover full screen, even if the AR is off slightly, because those white bands along the sides drive me nuts.