Under Cover : An Illustrated History of American Mass Market Paperbacks

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Viking Penguin - Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1982. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Very Good. 7 1/2" X 9. 144 Pages Indexed. A history of mass market paperbacks with a focus on cover art and design and its role in marketing the books. Foreword by John Tebbel. In Three Parts. Part One A Brief History Contents: European Origins American Roots, Pocket Books, Early Childhood of an Industry, Challenges for an Industry, Maturity of an Industry and Leading Publishers. Part Two Cover Art and Design Contents: The Art Director,The Cover Artist, The Point of Sale, Evolution and Genre and Other Designs. Part Three Collecting Contents: Approaches to Collectding, Cover Art Collectding, Other Collectdible Features, Care and Condition and Future Collectible Paperbacks. Bibliography for Historical and Collectding. Follow the evolution of mass market publishing, cover to cover to cover, in this delightful celeb ration of paperback books. From the wonderfully lurid covers of the forties and fifties to today's specialized genre styles, this fascinating history focuses on paperback covers, the crucial factor in catching the eye and selling the book. The splendid illustrations and the odd facts, colorful anecdotes, and insider's insights make Under Cover a rare treat for pop-culture buffs, designers, collectdors, and book people of all kinds. Paperbacks have added immeasurably to the information and entertainment available to people everywhere in the world. Historians have only begun to scratch the surface of what these books have meant to American life, much less to the cultures of other countries. With a scholar's skill and a historian's viewpoint Bonn has brought together the many tangled threads that make up the fabric of this publishing colossus and has proded the perspective of historical origins and development.