Sunday, 16 March 2014

Lessons From Pelican Book Covers no. 497


Archaeologists were so rock n’ roll in the 1960s that they required a police guard and sturdy barriers to keep their crazed fans away.


Thursday, 13 March 2014

(Partially) Why I Am A Vegetarian


Ah, mid-70s cook books. So complicated, so French, so with a cover that looks like an autopsy. Bon apetit!


Monday, 3 March 2014

Lou Reed's Album 'Transformer' As A Collection Of Books


Not much to say about this print, which is now available in my Standard Designs Etsy Shop. Just, I fucking love this album, and I wish I’d been around to watch Lou Reed record it and David Bowie produce it.





If Lou Reed is your kind of artist, if Penguin Books are your kind of books, then, well… here you go. You’re welcome.


Monday, 17 February 2014

Thomas Hardy Poetry Intrigue Explodes Like Wow!


I found this in a copy of the Penguin Poets volume on Thomas Hardy I bought secondhand the other day. Intriguingly it talks about a broadcast. What was that broadcast? And the name at the top of the page - J Holmstrom - is the co-author (thanks, Google) of the 1968 book ‘Thomas Hardy and his Readers’… so are these pronunciations taken from that book, or are these in fact the author’s own typewritten notes - have I bought *his* copy of Hardy’s poems? Oh, the low-level West Country excitement!


Thursday, 13 February 2014

Geology And Scenery In Englandzzzzzzzzzzz


The lovely bold colour bars - and the deathly boring illustration - on the front cover of this Pelican remind me precisely why, at school, I dropped Geography at ‘O’ Level and switched to Art instead.


Thursday, 6 February 2014

The New Poetic


A 1964 Pelican I bought the other day. If poetry analysis doesn’t fry your brain enough, the cover will have a go at finishing the job.


Monday, 27 January 2014

English Fashions. GLOOOOM.



Found while bookshopping in Austerity Britain 2014 - a book from Austerity Britain 1947. A very busily-illustrated (lots of crowd scenes) Puffin book of English Fashions.


Spoiler alert: according to the last page (‘The Inter-war Years’) plus-fours and flannels are where it’s at, kids.


Thursday, 23 January 2014

4AD Album Covers: The Secret Formula


Concrete garage floor + garden detritus (about to be swept away) + a few other bits of crap = instant late-’80s 4AD album cover. Easy!