Book Jackets / Dust Jackets of Interest for Antiquity, Rarity, Beauty, Ugliness, or Whatever

[Extollager]

Weird, here are the images again:

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Honestly, John Carter's blond hair (that is Carter, right?) and headband make me think of something from one of the inferior Star Trek teleplays, say "The Apple." It's a long time since I read The Gods of Mars, but I assume Vaal was not one of the Barsoomian divinities.

 

[Extollager]

Okay — no chronological restrictions.

Here’s what I regard as perhaps the most beautiful dust jacket I have. The picture is by Joan Hassall. There’s some pinkish color in the picture due to the Mylar protective wrapper and reflection.

 

[dask]

Not my oldest book but the oldest dust jacket that I am aware of without crawling around the attic on knee pads. Ronald Clyne artwork, Arkham House:

 

[Extollager]

I'll bet that Arkham House dustjacket is better than the contents.

 

[BAYLOR]

Not my oldest book but the oldest dust jacket that I am aware of without crawling around the attic on knee pads. Ronald Clyne artwork, Arkham House:
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Interesting cover .

 

[dask]

Forgot to mention it’s from 1946.

 

[Extollager]

I don't have a copy, but of all the Arkham House dustjackets I have seen, my favorite is the design for The Doll and One Other (the other being a story called "The Trod") by Algernon Blackwood. Yes, I like this more than Bok's design for AH's William Hope Hodgson omnibus (the "house" in Bok's design is amazingly anemic, for one thing). And I certainly like it more than Finlay's design for that first Arkham House book. The Blackwood book's picture is excellent and the calligraphy is first-class.

 

[Extollager]

All of those AH images were found online, btw. I don't own any Arkham House books.

 

[Randy M.]

Not the actual copy I own, but this is the cover on that:

A mystery novel that seems to me to overlap the mad-scientist trope that was popular in the 1930s. The artist, Lynd Ward, also published what could arguably be called early graphic novels like God's Man.

Extollager, much as I like the work of both Bok and Finlay, I agree that The Doll... cover is very good and better than the others.

 

[Extollager]

A couple of pictures of dust jackets by Pauline Baynes. Tess wanted to be in the pictures too.

 

[Extollager]

Will the old grey gentleman cat was sunning himself when the photo was taken.

 

[hitmouse]

Weird, here are the images again:

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The similarities with my undated paperback are interesting.

 

[hitmouse]

Also from my ERB collection, dated 1950:

 

[Extollager]

Those look like fun editions in which to read ERB.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Lovecraft. Didn’t know there was a green Darth Maul who got chopped in half at the jaw…

 

[Rodders]

The first two Lovecraft covers are very creepy.

Is that last one a Bruce Pennington cover?

 

[Randy M.]

At one time I owned all but the vol.2 of Tales ...

Wish I'd kept them.

 

[Phyrebrat]

The first two Lovecraft covers are very creepy.

Is that last one a Bruce Pennington cover?

I don’t know - I’d seen them on a Twitter post so I bagged them remembering this thread.

What’s odd is that I know the general consensus for writers nowadays is to avoid these kind of covers which appear ‘amateur’ according to some. But I rather like them. I much prefer them really, and I’m often daydreaming about what part of the story or antho they refer to.

IMO I wish we had more of these kind of covers.

 

[Astro Pen]

I have several volumes of Russ folk tales. These editions are about 50 years old. Though I believe there are modern reprints.

 

[Extollager]

Let’s keep the focus of this thread on dust jackets rather than paperback covers, please. Astro Pen, have you seen these?