Pelican: Health in childhood etc.

A while back I mentioned my loft-based stash of Pelicans, Penguin's sister non-fiction brand. This is the one that started it.

I've always liked that translucent-coloured-band-overlaying-an-image thing so popular in the 60s and have used the same technique many times. So when I saw this lying in the bargain box of a second hand bookshop in Leicester I snapped it up for just 25p. I was delighted to discover later that it was designed by Derek Birdsall; you might remember my entry for the Penguin Education series for which Birdsall and his Omnific studio designed many brilliant covers.

Once I started looking for more I soon realised that although this one seems to be a one off, there's a huge pile of really interesting Pelican covers (utilising the brilliant Marber Grid) designed by some of the leading lights of the day.

Over the next few months I'll post more, and there's some really fantastic ones, but for now here's just a few. The Divided Self cover is by Martin Bassett and has been re-used over numerous editions, even after the Grid was dropped. The brilliantly executed Africa is by George Daulby, one time stable mate of Birdsall's and who sadly died in 2005. The Stagnant Society is by Germano Facetti, who died earlier this year. What's quite interesting about this latter Pelican is how it was also published as a Penguin Special with a different cover.

Comments

[Felicity James]

Great stuff! Really fantastic collection, thanks for putting it online.

[Dan]

The Stagnant Society by Germano Facetti is my favorite, simple, but great.