Bantam 751 (1950)

Title : Shot in the Dark

Author : Merril, Judith, ed.

Cover art : H. E. Bischoff  

  [N. Y. : Bantam, 1950. No. 751. Cover art depicts a scene from Leigh Brackett’s story, The Halfling. “28 astounding stories that are out of this world.” Anthology of science fiction stories contains: The Sky was Full of Ships by Theodore Sturgeon; The Halfling by Leigh Brackett; Knock by Fredric Brown; Voices in the Dust by Gerald Kersh; A Hitch in Time by James MacCreigh; Gentlemen Be Seated by Robert A. Heinlein; Nightmare Number Three by Stephen Vincent Benet; The Star by H. G. Wells; Mr. Lupescu by Anthony Boucher; The Day of the Deepies by Murray Leinster; The Shadow and the Flash by Jack London; Spokeman for Terra by Hugh Raymond; He Was Asking After You by Margery Allingham; Strange Playfellow by Isaac Asimov; Brooklyn Project by William Tenn; Interview with a Lemming by James Thurber; Mars is Heaven by Ray Bradbury; Who Is Charles Avison by Edison Tesla Marshall; The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe; The Bronze Parrot by R. Austin Freeman; Life on the Moon by Alexander Samalman; Blunder by Philip Wylie; and The Dark Angel by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.)] 

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collectibility **

Science fiction cover art

My collection of vintage pbs tends heavily to the mystery titles, and thus the postings on this blog are dominated by the mystery genre. However, as the sci fi covers are among the most interesting and technically accomplished of all in the vintage canon, I thought I would post a few. -- BCS

Merritt, A. The Moon Pool. N. Y. : Avon, 1956. No. T-135. 'Compete and unabridged.' Art Sussman’s cover art is a good example of the mid and late fifties stylized, collage-like and vaguely expressionistic aesthetic favored by cover artists and art directors. If the present cover doesn’t quite have the GGA panache of the earlier Avon #370, it nonetheless can be appreciated as a well-heeled representative of the late vintage style. The cover of Avon T-135 also scores points by sneaking in a fully unclothed naked woman, quite a coup even considering the science fiction context which somewhat muffles the shock value.

Three Times Infinity. Edited by Leo Margulies. Greenwich, CT : Fawcett Publications, Inc. 1958. Gold Medal s726. Cover art by Richard Powers. 3 novellas: Lorelei of the Red Mist by Ray Bradbuiry and Leigh Brackett, The Golden Helix by Theodore Sturgeon, Destination Moon by Robert A HeinLein.

Lewis, C. S. The Tortured Planet. N. Y. : Avon Publications, Inc, 1957. No. T-211. (Originally titled That Hideous Strength). Highly effective, phantasmogoric cover art, alas uncredited.

Lewis, C. S. Perelandra. N. Y. : Avon Publications, Inc, 1950. No. 277. (Subtitle : World of the New Temptation; sequel to Out of the Silent Planet). Yet another anonymous Avon cover, this one of classic cover art of giant humanoid creatures partially obscured by strategic cloud covering.