10 Fun Facts of English Classic Book Covers
Because paratext matters!
We’ve likely heard of them, perhaps even read them for English class. Regardless of your stance or level of interaction with English classics, it is worth looking back at them and appreciating them for how they have contributed to English literature.
As you should know by now, so much of the persuasion in getting you to read a story lies in the book cover. Nowadays, it certainly in the case. In the past? Well, see for yourselves.
Let’s begin.
J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye) originally had his face staring you from the entire back cover during the first two print runs. By the third, he wanted it gone because of the wariness of his growing fame.1
Richard Bober is the previously unknown cover artist of the 1976 Dell/Laurel Leaf paperback edition of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. The lack of crediting is common for the marketing era when the edition debuted when advertisers or specific professionals weren’t typically credited.2
Nowadays, there’s more credit given to advertisers and people for a range of marketing materials—book covers, movie posters, commercials. I mean, that’s part of why I started this newletter—I wanted to know who’s behind our covers! Don’t you?
The infamous blue cover of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was completed before the story was finished! Both text and paratext became a collaborative effort, as nods to the cover were written into the story.3
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published with a yellow cover to signify its ties with decadence. The choice of yellow could be a reference to The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) and The Yellow Book (a British quarterly journals that was issued during the end of the 19th century, during the Decadent movement).4
J.R.R. Tolkien of LOTR fame illustrated the first editions of his books.5 Does this surprise you? This is the man that invented a language and made various detailed illustrations for his books. Talk about a hardcore high fantasy writer!
The anonymous fireman made of newspaper lit on fire from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was originally illustrated in colour with a pile of burning books behind him. The illustrator was Joe Muganaini. Since then, multiple variations of the figure (without the pile of books) were included in various reprinted editions, such as the 60th anniversary edition.6
The cover of 1972 Penguin UK edition of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange stayed in publication for 25 years before being replaced in 1996.7
The original watercolour cover of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was done by Elmer Hader, whose illustrations in his book Billy Butter which he wrote with his wife impressed Steinbeck got him the job.8
Apparently, James Joyce of Ulysses was specific about the shade of blue that wrapped the book to match the Greek flag.9
The original covers and drawings of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis were all done by Pauline Baynes, who was known as the “Narnia artist”. She sold her works for £100 a book to the original publisher of the series, Geoffrey Bles.10
A fun little bonus for you: illustrated covers were featured only on dust jackets, which were invented in the early 19th century.11 The innovation and rising popularity of paperbacks allowed book covers to be printed directly onto book covers and were not as discardable as dust jackets since the mid-19th century or so.12 It was in the 20th century when book cover marketing as we know exploded into view.
Phew! We made it through the list! Did any surprise you? Knew any of them beforehand?
Marketing and book publishing have come a long way and you wouldn’t know unless you purposefully looked backwards. Who knows what’s in store for book covers in the future?
Until next time!
2024, Mentalfloss.com, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64836/13-things-you-might-not-know-about-catcher-rye>.
Sivertson, A & Jankowski, E 2023, Artist: Known — Illustrator for ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ gets long-overdue credit | Endless Thread, Wbur.org, WBUR, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2023/09/01/artist-known-wrinkle>.
Barnebys 2024, How The Great Gatsby Got Its Cover, Barnebys.com, Barnebys, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.barnebys.com/blog/how-the-great-gatsby-got-its-cover>.
Ledger, S 2007, ‘Wilde Women and The Yellow Book: The Sexual Politics of Aestheticism and Decadence’, English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 5–26, <https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/74/article/209005/pdf>.
Tolkien Gateway 2023, The Lord of the Rings/Original dust-jacket designs - Tolkien Gateway, Tolkien Gateway, Tolkien Gateway, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings/Original_dust-jacket_designs>.
Pp. 22-5. Paperback Quarterly (Vol. 3 No. 3) Fall 1980 2024, Google Books, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://books.google.com.my/books?id=8FVzjEjyHH0C&q=%22The+first+paperback+edition+featured+illustrations+by+Joe+Mugnaini+and+contained+two+stories+in+addition+to+the+title+tale:+%27The+Playground%27+and+%27And+The+Rock+Cried+Out.%27%22&pg=PA22&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=%22The%20first%20paperback%20edition%20featured%20illustrations%20by%20Joe%20Mugnaini%20and%20contained%20two%20stories%20in%20addition%20to%20the%20title%20tale%3A%20'The%20Playground'%20and%20'And%20The%20Rock%20Cried%20Out.'%22&f=false>. ; Joe Mugnaini’s Illustrations on the Cover of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 - Joe Mugnaini/Ray Bradbury - Google Arts & Culture 2024, Google Arts & Culture, Google Arts & Culture, viewed 3 August 2024, <https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/joe-mugnaini-s-illustrations-on-the-cover-of-ray-bradbury-s-fahrenheit-451-joe-mugnaini-ray-bradbury/LAGpBGf4lNjwnQ?hl=en>.
‘Real horrorshow’: the iconic covers of A Clockwork Orange through the decades 2021, Penguin.co.uk, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2021/01/clockwork-orange-anthony-burgess-covers-stanley-kubrick-design-history>.
Peter Harrington Rare Books 2022, Peterharrington.co.uk, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/the-grapes-of-wrath-165570.html#:~:text=Steinbeck%20was%20so%20taken%20with,of%20Our%20Discontent%20(1961).>.
Hanaway-Oakley, C 2022, Ulysses at 100: why Joyce was so obsessed with the perfect blue cover, The Conversation, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://theconversation.com/ulysses-at-100-why-joyce-was-so-obsessed-with-the-perfect-blue-cover-175956>.
P. 11. Paton, Maureen 1998, Forgotten illustrator for Chronicles of Narnia finds fame at last, The Observer; Hooper, Walter 1996, C. S. Lewis: a Complete Guide to his Life and Works, HarperCollins, pp. 452 - 456.
The Bunch Bloggers 2018, Always Use Protection: A Brief History of the Dust Jacket, bunchauctions, bunchauctions, <https://www.bunchauctions.com/single-post/2018/03/01/always-use-protection-a-brief-history-of-the-dust-jacket>.
P. 2. Vanderschantz, N & Timpany, C 2013, ‘Who Says You Can’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover?’, International Journal of the Book, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1–17, <https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/f4b88d7f-1146-4dee-9a65-a82dbe87a5c9/content>. /// Jumphost & Jumphost 2022, An overview of book cover art - The Queen’s Journal, The Queen’s Journal, viewed 6 July 2024, <https://www.queensjournal.ca/an-overview-of-book-cover-art/>.