A Book and Its Cover

My fascination with art in books dates back to childhood, when we inherited my mom and dad's extensive collection of books, and many of them included illustrations from some of the very best of their era. 

Though I didn't know the names at the time, they were mostly from "the Golden Age of Illustration," and included such mighty talents as Walter Crane, Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham, and Maxfield Parrish.

While the above-named date from the late 1800s, names like Norman Rockwell, Richard Scarry, and Beatrix Potter were added in the first half of the 20th century and did not tarnish the reputation of the earlier artists.

And it's also true that with the heyday of illustrated novels, modern kids have added a whole list of favorites, many in the Manga and Anime styles so popular in Japan. And just like I did as a child, kids today emulate their favorites in drawings of their own.

I've noted to many writers that for me, a good map and some illustrations can be an absolute positive in a book. Maybe it's a carry-over from my love of non-fiction, when illustrations, maps and photos enhance a subject and help "place" the narrative clearly in the mind of the reader, novelists rarely remember that the family tree, location, clothing and styles of what they're writing about can be unfamiliar to their readers. 

"Show don't tell" can result some active descriptions, but can also slow the reader down as a completely strange and alien landscape and sights are noted. And while we know from the first pages on, in every single novel in a very large collection, that Nancy Drew is a strawberry blonde who drives a "snappy roadster,"(or did in the earlier incarnations of the series), I have spent time and ink on objecting to novels in which I have imagined a swarthy, dark-eyed hero only to find out that the Italian was of the northern kind, and is blonde and blue-eyed. The writer could have told me, or even shown me, so I didn't have to re-cast the book 7 chapters on in my mental film of the story.

That brings me to cover art.

In my estimation, this once thoughtful and helpful design element has fallen on hard time.

Yes, many books were published with a simple canvas over cardboard cover, an elegant font and embossed or hot-stamped letters for the title, author, and publisher. As a matter of fact, the publisher alone could trigger the interest of a reader, who was aware after a while which publishers were likely to present a book that they were likely to enjoy.

In fact, if you were to ask whether I preferred cover art or simple but beautiful leaf-and-text lettering, I'd prefer to former to an art style that fails to do justice to the story.

The biggest problem, for me at any rate, is that when I walk down the aisles of a book store, or look at books offerings in the many newsletters that come my way, the cover art is often very colorful, in a hard to read font, limited depiction of what I'm going to read about, and not something I immediately want to pick up and thumb through.

Out of curiosity, I chose a random three books from the older ones on my book shelves, all novels, to get an idea of what I had selected at some point in history, with at least a little help from its cover.

1949: Earth Abides by George R Stewart. A post-apocalyptic novel in which a plague as killed off most of the people, and of the few who remain, Isherwood Williams, who takes up the challenge of leading the frightened survivors. A new social order is created, but it, too, faces unimaginable challenges - and new young people who eventually pick up the reins and drive further forward. The cover is classic mid-century poster style: a man and woman are standing, eyes up, gaze strong, in simple clothing. The art style is simple illustration - a reddish tone to signify blood. But the moment you pick up the book, you know it's going to have a romance, that it's about a survival struggle, and that there will be a man and woman team leading the way. The fonts are simple, a serif for the title and sans serif for the other wording. A "blurb" from The New Yorker and a plot line complete the cover. It's not beautiful or even a cover you'd study - but what you do know immediately is the basic elements of the story. Then you'll flip a few pages in and decide.

1990: Black Water 2, More Edited Tales of the Fantastic, Edited by Alberto Manguel. A collection of short stories by such authors as Graham Greene, Joan Didion, E.B. White, Joseph Conrad, Margaret Atwood, Bernard Malamud and Arthur Conan Doyle. What they have in common is they deal with stories of strange creatures, prophetic dreams, odd creatures, and the bizarre. The cover shows a door or wall, separating the head and shoulders of two young men who appear to be the same person, one listening in dismay, and one talking with urgency. The palette is muted, the man somewhere between 15 and 40, and nothing else but the mood is "explained."

2012: Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott. A highland "cozy" mystery set in the 1950s, in Scotland,  in a place poised between the "then" and the "now" of the mid-20th century, where the old ways intrigue and provide comfort, the new some excitement and danger. The cover: a plaid background over which is seen the image of a old (by Scottish terms, so very old by ours) abbey, a decorative cast-iron gate invitingly open, and a bit of mist drifting in the foreground. Again, simple title in serif font, simple blurb and author in sans serif. We "get" the book in a glance.

2009: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. Just for kids. The cover is an immediate winner. A man brandishing a sword is astride a Pegasus styled horse, watching over his shoulder as he flies away from us, amid towering modern buildings and into a bright light that appears to be guiding (or blowing up?) his path. While the title font is shining and embossed, it's nevertheless a bold serif font with supporting elegant and simple font for the author and series title.

It's true, I don't always choose books because of the cover - I have many, as noted, older books that are simply presented with a title and author.

But covers that speak to us of what the story inside the pages will present are so much more evocative, and seductive than all the bright color and abstract imagery that dominates the shelves today.