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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Favourite Book Jacket


Dust Jacket Collector

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In response to a suggestion from 'blackmaria' in the rarest book thread, & as a change from the vast number of pictures of bayonets depicted on the site!, I thought it might be nice for fellow book collectors to have a thread in which they can post a picture of their favourite WW1 book jackets. As you can see from my website given below, collecting such things has been a lifetimes passion. Primarily it was for the often striking art work involved but as a bonus the jacket often carry's information on the author not given within the book. Pre-2nd War jackets can be hard to find so here I'm suggesting images of books from any period as long as they strike you as particularly memorable.

To kick things off here's my all time favourite & the one I use as my Avatar. It's from Vernon Bartlett's novel 'No Man's Land' published by Allen & Unwin in 1930, which imagines the front-line experiences of the soldier who went on to become the unknown warrior. The jacket is by D. Burroughes.

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I always rather liked "Under Haig In Flanders":

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One of my favourites (as you may notice my copy had a large chip out of the right hand corner which I have attempted to repair)

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"Scotland Yet/Truth in the Trenches" always catches my eye.

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Another of my favourites ( again showing a home made repair to the missing lower section)

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Not only a superb jacket but this was the first jacketed book I purchased, at a flea market for £5

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Not only a great jacket but one of my favourite memoirs

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Another favourite. Published by Dent in 1930. A review copy. It seems to be the same artist as the for 'The Phantom Brigade' above. Any ideas who it is?

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My most recent purchase but one of the best jackets in my collection.

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Another favourite. Published by Dent in 1930. A review copy. It seems to be the same artist as the for 'The Phantom Brigade' above. Any ideas who it is?

No , but it's a superb jacket and I just wish I could find a copy :(

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Here's a nice one by one of the best jacket designers, Fred Leist, who also did a few of the 'Boyd Cable' books. This is a journalist's (Daily Mail) account of the Battle of the Somme, published by Methuen in 1917.

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. It seems to be the same artist as the for 'The Phantom Brigade' above. Any ideas who it is?

Is it the chap who did the woodcuts for J B Morton's The Barber of Putney? (Actually, I'm out on a limb here, because I'm not even sure I have the right book. It's a paperback I bought some years ago - reprint - of an "ordinary man" type novel written in the 20's, illustrated by woodcuts. Ignore me).

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Lovely thread guys. I will contribute, but mine might be regarded as a little boring, most of them are brown wrappers with CID at the top , but i will attempt to show some interesting ones.

Now if this thread was WW2, its easy, "Destiny Can Wait", the Official History of the Polish Airforce in the Second World War.

Ins't time someone came along and said all their interested in is the contents of the book, blah, blah. :whistle:

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Is it the chap who did the woodcuts for J B Morton's The Barber of Putney? (Actually, I'm out on a limb here, because I'm not even sure I have the right book. It's a paperback I bought some years ago - reprint - of an "ordinary man" type novel written in the 20's, illustrated by woodcuts. Ignore me).

Originally published in 1919 I only have the 1934 issue but it does, I think, reproduce the image from the earlier issue on the jacket. It does look a bit similar but the signature, although largely indecipherable, is different. Good try though!

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To me,'The Phantom Brigade' cover resembles the woodcuts by William Kermode in Henry Williamson's 'The Patriots Progress'.

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That's the one, Paul. On the same shelf at home as Morton's book (though also a cheap modern paperback).

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Here's a particularly striking one from a long forgotten novel by Henry Andover published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1934. It tells the story of a young man from Cumberland, his various amorous encounters & his adventures as an officer at the front. The jacket is sadly unsigned.

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This is an interesting jacket, my copy is signed and dedicated by the author to his cousin, who has noted that the author died on Feb 6 1946 .

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Continuing my attempts to bring some of the excellent art work used in WW1 book jacket design to a wider audience.

This tremendous image of marching men is from Emil Schulz novel Schlump, published by Secker in 1929 having been originally published in Germany the year before. It tells of a young man at the front through 4 years of war. Again the jacket is unsigned.

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Black and White but this is still one of my favourite jackets... good old e-bay!

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As a designer I get a little tired of every modern reissue looking like an action-film poster so its a pleasure to see some great jackets in this topic, thanks for posting.

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As a designer I get a little tired of every modern reissue looking like an action-film poster so its a pleasure to see some great jackets in this topic, thanks for posting.

Couldn't agree more. We'll try to keep them coming.
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As a designer I get a little tired of every modern reissue looking like an action-film poster so its a pleasure to see some great jackets in this topic, thanks for posting.

Your welcome and, like DJC ,I also agree with you. I notice this book has just been mentioned on the 'What WW1 books are you reading' thread.

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