Following on from the original British series of Penguin Celebrations that came out in 2007, Penguin Canada have decided to have a go as well, with fifteen contemporary Canadian classics hitting bookshops on 17 February.
Curiously, although the back covers announce a website at www.penguincelebrations.ca, they seem to have forgotten to buy the domain and/or put the website up. All the same, this is a fun initiative that aficionados of classic Penguin design are sure to enjoy.
For their new French-language edition of Klas Östergren’s modern Swedish classic Gentlemen, Flammarion have chosen the exact same cover image as did Penguin for a previous edition of Brideshead Revisited.
I don’t have enough of a photographic culture to know whether this is a well-known photograph that’s widely used, or if this really is a massive coincidence. Feel free to chip in with any additional knowledge you may have…
This reminds me of another conincidence involving a Scandinavian novel when 10/18 published Café Zambèze — the Danish novelist Søren Jessen’s first book to be translated into French — on 20 March 2003, and then St. Martin’s Press used the same cover photo for Augusten Burroughs’ memoir Dry that came out on 2 June 2003.
In this case, as I own a copy of Café Zambèze, I can report that the photograph is credited to Swedish photographer Björn Keller, but again, I simply couldn’t say if this is a widely used photo or not.
Brilliant Dutch novel, published by in the USA (and Canada) by Penguin and in France (and Canada) by Héloïse d’Ormesson.
The Jewish Messiah – cover design by Rodrigo Corral Design / Christopher Brand
Le Messie Juif – cover illustration by Emmanuelle Anquetil, integrated into Héloïse d’Ormesson’s standard cover design template
Curiously, it does not appear to have been published in Britain.
The forthcoming Penguin Classics edition of Rilke’s The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, originally announced for 2008, is finally coming out this Spring/Summer. Curiously, as Gallimard did with their Folio Classique edition of the same book (1991), Penguin is also going with an Egon Schiele reproduction to illustrate the cover. Coincidence? I think not; despite the 18-year interval separating the two publications, this seems to be a case of great minds (or rather great publishers) thinking alike…
Following on from an earlier post, Penguin has since updated their cover designs for several John Wyndham titles.
Side-by-side comparison, with the old designs on the left and the new ones on the right.
The old ones weren’t bad for their time but, as I’m sure you’ll agree, the new 2008 editions are much nicer. Incredibly classy.
Penguin has also updated the Modern Classics editions of The Chrysalids and The Day of the Triffids.
The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs The Dirt (2006) and Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008), three volumes of literary criticism by Nick Hornby, originally published in The Believer magazine.
Cover designs by Sam Potts Inc., featuring illustrations by Charles Burns (Black Hole).
In 2006, Penguin Books UK published The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, a single volume containing both The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs The Dirt.
Hardback Edition (2006)
Paperback Edition (2007)
Just when you thought I was through with Scandinavian-themed posts, I’ve stumbled upon another reason why I usually can’t stand American cover design, nor the fact that we live under the thumb of their publishing industry. Benny and Shrimp is a Swedish novel by Katarina Mazetti, published by Short Books of London with an attractive British cover design, and distributed in Canada by Penguin Books. So far, so good. Except that now it would seem that Penguin Canada wants to shove the forthcoming ugly American edition down our throats, even though they hold distribution rights for the attractive British edition. Why? According to Short Books, Penguin USA have bought the Canadian market rights along with their American publication rights, and are blocking the sale of the British edition in Canada. Makes me sick…
British Edition (March 2008)
British Edition (February 2009)
American Edition (July 2009)
Why do American publishers do this?
More on this scandal here as it continues to unfold…
In May 1938, Pierre Dac founded L’Os à moelle, a weekly newspaper that billed itself as l’organe officiel des loufoques (the official organ of the loufoques). It was basically a fake newspaper full of zany, absurd humour, much of which is still quite funny today. Sadly, being a Jew, Dac had to flee France during the Nazi occupation, thus ending the run of the paper (it really was a one man show) in June 1940, after 109 issues.
In October 2007, Omnibus had the bright idea to publish a collection of the best bits, also entitled L’Os à moelle. It’s a beautiful 1,200 page affair (ultra-thin paper), featuring a playful cover designed by Atelier Didier Thimonier (it sells for $51.95 in Canada).
In October 2008, Omnibus issued a second volume entitled Drôle de guerre, comprised of selected texts from his work for Radio Londres while in exile in London during the war, as well as a from L’Os libre, the successor to L’Os à moelle that he published from the end of the war until 1947 ($52.95 in Canada).
To close this improvised theme week on Scandinavian literature in translation, I’ve decided to go with Sturmerprobt, Einar Kárason’s latest novel to be translated into German (Random House Germany).
There’s nothing extraordinary about this cover design; I just love the way the photo encapsulates une certaine idée de la Scandinavie.
This just in: small press out of Rochester, New York publishes important Norwegian author with attractive cover designs. Unbelieveable! Curiously, they haven’t published the first instalment of Jan Kjærstad’s Jonas Wergeland Trilogy (no doubt for reasons of rights restrictions), but they are on the verge of publishing The Conqueror, and The Discoverer is due out this August. Very impressive work from a publisher I’d not previously heard of.
Cover designs by Milan Bozic.
On My Mind The Literary Supplement
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