The Art of Penguin Science Fiction is a historical guide to the design of book jackets in the Penguin SF line by James Pardey. But before reading the essay I recommend looking at some of the wonderful cover designs, for example We, Deathworld, Rork!, The Drowned World, Star Maker, The Evolution Man, Fifth Planet and Alternating Currents. They certainly don't make SF book jackets like they used to. All hundred plus covers can also be browsed alphabetically by author. [via The Guardian Books Blog]
posted by Kattullus on May 7, 2009 - 25 comments

The "I Can Read Movies" Series is a set of fake film novelizations, done in 1950's and 1960's illustration style. [via]
posted by piratebowling on Jan 30, 2009 - 20 comments

The Book Cover Archive presents "an archive of book cover designs and designers for the purpose of appreciation and categorization". via
posted by Rumple on Jan 8, 2009 - 9 comments

Edinburgh author Iain M. Banks, creator of the post capitalist space faring society The Culture and it's oddly named ships, has long been the UKs top science fiction writer, but has never had more than a toehold in the US (in part through lack of availability, in part due to lack of promotion and in part due to some pretty awful covers. That could change: Matter, his latest, has been heavily promoted in the US and sports a cover nearly identical to the UK edition. This week Orbit are releasing US editions of the two earliest Culture novels, with the third following in July, which could mean a complete release of all the novels in the US in order. [more inside]
posted by Artw on Mar 23, 2008 - 160 comments

Good Girl Art is defined as "A cover illustration depicting an attractive young woman, usually in skimpy or form-fitting clothing, and designed for (mild erotic interest)[sic]. There have been several prior posts on pulp fiction cover art (1, 2, 3); this site focuses on the "good girls" usefully organized into categories such as "Swamp Babes", Ringside Jezebels, Crazy!, Vietnam Vixens, and Peeping Toms. via
posted by Rumple on Mar 12, 2008 - 29 comments

The Pelican Project - six decades of Pelican book covers.
posted by dobbs on Jan 31, 2008 - 12 comments

Site for Henry Sene Yee, book designer. Site includes finished pieces and rejected proofs.
posted by dobbs on Dec 24, 2007 - 9 comments

Books judged by covers. Via.
posted by klangklangston on May 1, 2007 - 12 comments

If you're a fan of pulp fiction paperback covers, then you've probably seen the artwork of R.A. Maguire. The Gallery on his personal site comes in three flavors: Covers, Reference Photos (to aid in cover renderings) and Original Art, which are essentialy covers stripped of the Title/Author/Publisher/Price info. via
posted by jonson on Nov 28, 2006 - 12 comments

Penguin Books is an all too brief Flickr Photoset of Penguin Book cover designs from decades past. For those interested, this book is highly recommended.
posted by jonson on Oct 24, 2006 - 9 comments

Poulpe Pulps: A gallery of pulp and comic cover art featuring octopi. Via Slate, who just commissioned a few new pulp covers for classic books.
posted by staggernation on May 25, 2006 - 6 comments

"Covers is dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design."
posted by dobbs on May 24, 2006 - 16 comments

Longmire Does Romance Novels
posted by WaterSprite on May 25, 2005 - 2 comments

Czech book covers of the 1920s and '30s. Czechoslovakia was an amazingly creative place between the wars, and this Cooper-Hewitt exhibit showcases some of the book covers it produced. Here's an overview and descrption of styles; you can explore them here. I particularly like Sborník Literární skupiny, Jaroslavu Královi k padesátinám, Nejmenší dum, and the work of Karel Teige. (Via wood s lot.)
posted by languagehat on Dec 18, 2004 - 9 comments

War of the Worlds cover art from the last hundred years or so. (Plus, related artwork and the Martian-Canadian conspiracy, finally uncovered!) [via kottke]
posted by arto on Jul 9, 2004 - 5 comments

Is this really the most depressing book cover of the year? Because I kinda thought this one was. [via AntiPixel]
posted by kirkaracha on Sep 22, 2003 - 94 comments

Angie was a marked woman , paying her own ransom with a body none could resist.
Someone has spent an incredible amount of time and energy scanning in lesbian pulp fiction covers from the 50's and 60's. An interesting look into what was considered titillating 40 years ago.
posted by patrickje on Jan 8, 2003 - 21 comments

Have u finished reading the complete collection of O'Reilly books?, and thought u could do better, but dont know where to start. Well u can try designing the front cover.
posted by monkeyJuice on Jan 10, 2002 - 18 comments