Starting in the late 1960s, Penguin released twelve C.P. Snow novels in a new edition, with cover art by David Gentleman. Snow was an English novelist and scientist who worked in the British civil service. He was a political insider whose novels were set in the senior levels of British political and bureaucratic life in the 1950s and 60s.
Gentleman explains that “I didn’t much enjoy reading the Snows and would stop as soon as I reached a passage suggesting a suitable building or landscape for a cover”. He would go on excursions to relevant locations, for example to Westminster for the novel Corridors of Power (below) which is set in the British parliament. The design shows a view of Big Ben which towers over Westminster. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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In the book Penguin by Illustrators* he presents pages from his archives and gives an insight into his working process. He shows that originally the covers were predominately orange with black lettering, a heavy and monotonous design. Thankfully this was soon reversed to the style shown in this post, white with orange titles, a lighter and fresher design.
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His technique in making the drawings is interesting “They were drawn on blotting paper but quite tiny – half size or less – so they would gain extra vigour and blackness when blown up.” As the ink would spread quickly in the blotting paper, speed was essential, a demonstration of the artist’s skill and accuracy. The technique gives the drawings an energetic quality which a more careful rendering might not convey.
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//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////* David Gentleman quotations and proofs are taken from Penguin by Illustrators, Penguin Books, 2009, available from the Penguin Collectors Society.
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