• 50 Pulp Cover Treatments of Classic Works of Literature

    Guns, Broads, Beefcake, Literariness

    Last month at CrimeReads, Rebecca Romney looked at a few classic detective novels that had, at one time or another, gotten makeovers as sexy pulps—because as we all know, the easiest way to sell something is to make it look salacious (whether it actually is or not). But it isn’t only great detective novels that have gotten the pulp treatment. Classic works of literary fiction have existed as pulps from the very beginning of pulp—the new paperback publishers of the 1940s and 50s printed them right along with classic crime and some genuinely lowbrow (and sometimes quite lurid) new novels, often commissioning the very same artists to design their covers. Below, I dug up a few of these pulpified classics (not including the Pulp! The Classics imprint)—many of which I found through the excellent resource Pulp Covers. Some are true pulp covers—with overtly sexy women and tantalizing movie-esque taglines—while others are just amusingly lowbrow mass market treatments of highbrow novels. Either way, they’re even better than you’d expect.

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    sheltering sky pulp Signet Book #840, 1951. Cover art by Mitchell Hooks wuthering heights pulp Pocket Books Cardinal Edition, 1952 brave new world pulp Bantam, 1953. Cover by Charles Binger. native son pulp Signet #794, 1951. Cover art by James Avati. john cheever pulp Berkley Books G-119 great gatsby pulp Bantam Books #8, 1945 Bantam Giant A1091 invisible man pulp 1953. Cover by James Avati. the sun also rises pulp Bantam Book #717, 1949. Cover art by Ken Riley joyce pulp Signet Giant, 1954 heart of darkness pulp Signet Book #834, 1952. Cover art by Stanley Meltzoff. WDL Books donna tartt pulp Ivy Books graham greene pulp Bantam Book #315, 1949 william styron pulp Cover by James Avati. sartre pulp Berkley Books G-30 emile zola pulp Ace Double, 1956 fantastic tales pulp New English Library, 1969 faulkner pulp Signet Book #632 scarlet pimpernel pulp Pyramid Royal #16, 1958. Cover art by Harry Schaare. all quiet on the western front pulp Lion Books on the road pulp Pan Books M39 subterraneans pulp Panther Books Signet Books #937, 1952. Cover Artist: James Avati Signet Book #1001, 1951. Cover by James Avanti. Bantam F2879, 1965. Pocket Books, Cardinal Edition, 1955. Cover art by Tom Dunn. a farewell to arms pulp Bantam Books, 1949. Cover by C.C. Beall. Pocket Books, Cardinal Edition; Cover art by John Alan Maxwell. augie march pulp Popular Library, 1955 jekyll and hyde pulp Pocket Books #123, 1941. Cover Artist: Sol Immerman; movie tie-in with Spencer Tracy sound and the fury pulp Signet D1628, 1959. jane austen pulp Paperback Library, 1965 a clockwork orange pulp Ballantine, 1965. Cover art by Mozelle Thompson. frankenstein pulp Lion Books #143, 1953. Pan Books, 1963. Pan Books, 1968. Dell Books #681, 1953. Cover Artist: Griffith Foxley ann petry pulp Signet Books, 1949 The Brothers Karamazov pulp Four Square Books, 1958. Tie-in edition for film starring Yul Brynner. crime and punishment pulp Signet Book #733, 1949. Cover art by James Avati. arthur koestler pulp Signet Books 671, 1948 (3rd printing, 1951). Cover art by Robert Jonas. Ballantine Books, 1988. appointment in samarra pulp Signet Books #1087, 1953. Cover by James Avati. wolfe pulp Signet Books, 1952 look homeward angel pulp Signet Books, 1949 lady chatterley pulp Signet Book #610, 1950. Cover art by Bill Gregg. i, claudius pulp Avon Books, 1953. Signet, 1960. 1984 pulp Signet Giant S798, 1954. Cover Artist: Alan Harmon



    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
    https://www.emilytemple.net/





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