"This day's experience, set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside." –Alice Munro, "What is Remembered"
It’s been a while since I last scanned and posted some covers of paperbacks in my personal collection, so let’s give that a try:
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In addition to RCN, I’m currently running three tumblr blogs and a twitter feed, and there are days when I think that, perhaps, I have taken on too much…
More cover scans, courtesy of yours truly:
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ABOVE: Clifford D. Simak, Enchanted Pilgrimage (NY: Berkley, 1975), Z2987, with cover art by Paul Lehr.
ABOVE: Stephen Tall, The Ramsgate Paradox (NY: Berkley, c1976), Z3186, with cover art by Paul Lehr.
ABOVE: Anders Bodelsen, Freezing Down (NY: Berkley, 1972), S2186, with cover art by Paul Lehr.
ABOVE: Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss, eds., Best SF 73 (NY: Berkley, 1974), with cover art by Paul Lehr.
The art on the cover of Freezing Down is uncredited, and no signature is visible, but I’m going to go ahead and attribute it to Paul Lehr. If you know better, you are welcome to post a comment and set the record straight.
As promised almost two weeks ago, here are four more covers with art by Kelly Freas, freshly scanned from the collection of yours truly:
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ABOVE: Harry Harrison, ed., Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology (NY: Ballantine Books, 1974), with cover art by Kelly Freas).
ABOVE: Kenneth Bulmer, The Wizards of Senchuria (NY: Ace, ©1969), with cover art by Kelly Freas.
ABOVE: Andre Norton, Dread Companion (NY: Ace, ©1970), with cover art by Kelly Freas.
ABOVE: Barrington J. Bayley, The Zen Gun (NY: DAW Books, 1983), with cover art by Kelly Freas.
Older SF fans will no doubt recognize the illustration on the cover of Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology as a reprint of the famous cover of the October 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, which, apparently, was Kelly Freas’s debut as an SF illustrator. Campbell commissioned the cover from Freas as an accompaniment to Tom Godwin’s short story “The Gulf Between” — not included in the memorial anthology — and twenty-four years later, the rock band, Queen, commissioned Freas to created a pastiche of the image for their 1977 album, News of the World.
Courtesy of our new 11 x 17 inch scanner/printer, my personal library, and GIMP, here are four covers that share a sort of thematic family resemblance along with a bonus cover on a slightly different theme; the artist credits, where known, are in the file names, as usual:
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The cover art for Notions: Unlimited by Robert Sheckley is uncredited, and no signature is visible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the artist turned out to be Dean Ellis.
BONUS SCAN:
I’m not a big fan of pure airbrushed artwork, but here are two airbrushed SF covers — from 1970 and 1979 respectively — that recently caught my eye as I was browsing through my very own library of paperback “classics,” looking for stuff to scan and share:
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Please note that neither of the above paperbacks includes a formal credit for the cover artist. Yes, the artwork on Bill, the Galactic Hero is signed “McMACKEN,” or “McMALKEN,” but I have no idea who McMacken/McMalken is…
UPDATE (07 August 2013):
I can’t say for sure, but my best guess at this point is that the McMacken who produced the cover art for Bill, the Galactic Hero is Dave McMacken. Widely admired in his early career for his skill with an airbrush, McMacken is perhaps best known for his cover illustrations for albums such as Frank Zappa’s Over-Nite Sensation, The Commodores’ Natural High, AC/DC’s Ballbreaker, Cat Stevens’ Greatest Hits, Warrant’s Dog Eat Dog, The Bullet Boys’ Freak Show, Weather Report’s Black Market, The Beatles’ Reel Music, Steve Miller’s The Joker for Steve Miller, and Kansas’s Leftoverture. Some might also remember his poster for Steven’s Spielberg’s 1941.
From my personal library of disintegrating pulp:
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My favourite image in the above group is Lehr’s wraparound cover for John Boyd’s The Rakehells of Heaven, even though the display font used for the title and author name is overbearing and, in places, difficult to decipher! To view all of the covers with art by Paul Lehr that I’ve posted so far, click here.
Ragged Claws Network 