What was considered obscene 100 years ago? The publishers of a monthly magazine, The International, devoted to fiction, music, drama and politics, were told the January 1914 issue could not be mailed.
Why? The magazine’s cover.
Here is the cover in question. Continue reading
Man’s Life September 1967
Man’s Life September 1956 – Weasels Ripped My Flesh
With eye-catching painted covers and over the top headlines, Man’s Life magazine provided titillating reading for men from the 1950s through the 1970s.
Man’s Life was the magazine that came up with the now infamous headline “Weasels Ripped My Flesh,” which musician Frank Zappa later appropriated with new artwork for his band’s 1970 album cover.
How could any red blooded male resist stories such as “Sex tricks that make women beg you for love”? Or in the same September 1967 issue: “American towns where vice is legal!” Continue reading
The Art of The Book #5 – New York City Deco Dust Jackets From The 20′s & 30′s
As we complete our look at New York City books from 80+ years ago, some of these dust jackets incorporate photography into their covers which the other dust jackets we have featured do not. (click on any photo to enlarge)
Portrait Of New York by Felix Riesenberg & Alexander Alland, New York: Macmillan, 1939 dj illustrator, Alexander Alland
Felix Riesnberg (1879-1939) was a civil engineer and master mariner. He was a polar explorer and wrote numerous books with nautical themes. Portrait of New York ventures among the populace and is an accurate description of the city and its people.
Alexander Alland (1902-1989) was a master photographer and the book shows a small sample of his immense talents. Continue reading
The Art of The Book #4 – New York City Deco Dust Jackets From The 20′s & 30′s
Continuing our look at the those great New York City books from 80 years ago, here are more great dust jacket covers. (click on any photo to enlarge)
Hacking New York by Robert Hazard, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930 dj illustrator, unknown
The first book of its kind – anecdotes of a New York taxi driver. Even back then the meter could be rigged and Hazard explains how it was done. The dust jacket is gorgeous and unfortunately the artist is unattributed. Continue reading
The Art of The Book #3 – New York City Deco Dust Jackets From The 20′s & 30′s
We continue with our look at vintage books about New York City with great dust jackets. (click here to read part 1 and here to read part 2)
Starting with a look at an all-time classic of deco design, New York Nights. (click on any photo to enlarge)
New York Nights by Stephen Graham, New York: George H. Doran, 1927, dj illustrator, Kurt Wiese
A native of Scotland, author Stephen Graham (1884-1975) goes on a tour of jazz age nightclubs, speakeasies and cabarets. Graham provides the grittier side of life in an up to the minute description of prohibition New York neighborhoods, establishments and people.
Kurt Wiese (1887-1974) illustrated over 300 books and later became an award-winning children’s book author. Besides the knockout jacket cover, Wiese drew all the illustrations contained in the book. This was the first American book he worked on. Continue reading
The Art of The Book #2 – New York City Deco Dust Jackets From The 20′s & 30’s
We continue our look at some great New York City books from the 1920’s and 1930’s with exceptional artwork on their dust jackets. (click here to read part 1)
We begin with graphics on a dust jacket worthy of a large size poster from the quintessential art deco New York book. (click on any photo to enlarge)
New York by Paul Morand and Joaquin Vaquero Palacios. New York: Henry Holt, 1930, dj illustrator, Joaquin Vaquero Palacios.
A witty description of New York, via French writer Paul Morand, (1888-1976) from four visits he made to New York, none longer than a month, from between 1925-1929. Morand later became a supporter of the French Vichy regime.
Joaquin Vaquero (1900-1998) as he is credited in the book without the Palacios surname, was a Spanish architect and painter. His paintings are held in museums across the globe. Continue reading
The Art of The Book #1 – New York City Deco Dust Jackets From The 20’s & 30’s
From the 1920’s until the 1940’s, book publishers put out some phenomenal books about New York. They also hired talented artists to design the book’s dust jackets.
The eye-catching art deco graphics were meant to attract potential buyers. Unfortunately, most people who purchased books 80 years ago would discard the dust jacket once they brought the book home with them.
Because of that, many of these books from that time are very scarce in their original dust jacket.
This is the first part of a five part series looking at the dust jackets of books about New York City, the artists that created the work and the authors.
Below are some fine examples of New York City books from the golden era of publishing.
(click on any photo to enlarge)
New York by Quex. New York: David McKay, 1928, dj illustrator, Dixon (possibly Arthur A. Dixon)
Quex was the pseudonym of reporter George H.F. Nichols (1881-1933) of The Evening News of London. Nichols was at the time of his death one of the highest paid reporters in the world. Nichols was the originator of articles written in the form of “the diary of the man about town.” Quex’s observations about about New York are well worth reading.
The dust jacket is classic New York, but I am unsure about the attribution to Arthur Dixon, so we will leave biographical information out until someone can provide a conclusive identification on the artist.
Forget all those best-selling, life affirming books which “reveal” valuable lessons that you should follow to have a happy life or a lucrative career.
Linds Redding, an award winning graphic designer who worked in the advertising industry for nearly 30 years, started a blog in 2011, the day he found out he had esophageal cancer.
The piece he wrote on March 11, 2012 called A Short Lesson In Perspective is a must read for anyone who is indulged in a creative profession or aspires to one. Even if you do not consider yourself creative, this is still well worth the few minutes it will take to read. It is not technically advice as much as it is self-reflection that has enormous value to the reader.
It is 2,900 words long, but even for those with short attention spans, I urge you to read to the end.
The whole article can, and should, be read here, and an excerpt (not from the beginning) is reproduced below: Continue reading
A Glut of Publishing
In 1907 there were 9,260 books published in the United States according to the New York State Library Bookboard.
Compare that to 2010 when there were 316,480 books published by traditional publishing companies according to Bowker.
Add to that another 2,776,260 on-demand titles produced by reprint houses specializing in public domain works and by presses catering to self-publishers and ”micro-niche” publications.
That is over 3 million books published in one year.
No wonder it is so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Continue reading