MINIATURE MARVELS The Book Cover Art of James E McConnell

James E McConnell was one of the last century’s finest and most prolific commercial artists working in publishing. In a career spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s, McConnell produced hundreds of superb paintings for hardback dust jackets and paperback covers (as well as magazines such as Look and Learn, and advertising posters), working for noted British publishers large and small. Amongst his most celebrated works were covers for Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu; John D. Macdonald and James M. Cain thrillers; Berkeley Gray and Vernon Warren crime novels; children’s adventure novels; Edgar Wallace mysteries; and over a dozen Pinnacle paperbacks of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, Mars and Venus novels. His publishers included Collins, Cassell, Robert Hale, Corgi, Pan, Amalgamated/Fleetway, Hutchinson and many others. He is perhaps best remembered for his Western-themed pieces, but his work spanned a wide range of genres, including crime, science fiction, romance and children’s. In Miniature Marvels, the first book ever to be devoted to McConnell, noted researcher and author Steve Chibnall, a leading authority on mass-market publishing in 20th Century Britain, presents a fascinating biography of the artist, compiled with the full cooperation of his estate. The book is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of superb full-color reproductions of McConnell’s work and contains a full, detailed listing of all of his covers. I'd never heard of McConnell...but lo-and-behold, I immediately discovered wonderful covers of the Fu Manchu novels and Edgar Rice Burroughs work that I've had in my collection for years. And always hoped I'd find more. Here they are, superbly reproduced sometimes from the original art. I went through the entire book page by page looking for the best artwork to scan for you. I had to settle for the scans you see here, but there were so many more I wish I could have included. This guy was a brilliant illustrator and one who deserves the attention of anyone who loves vintage paperback covers, good girl art, and pulp magazine style illustrations. He covers the entire realm...-Bud