You ’re probably familiar with the term " pulp magazine fable , " refer to leger printed on cheap " pulp " report with covers featuring sexy example of bombshells and stud . Originating in the first one-half of the 20th century , these books were n’t make out for their tone ; these were lowbrowed detective novels , romances , and sci - fi aimed at the oecumenical public .
But pulp top are n’t only reserve for second - rate title . Classic works of literature have been reimagined in the lurid mode , too . As Emily Temple atLit Hubreported , pulp edition ofclassic novelshave been printed since the 1940s and ' 50s , and they were done in the same way as the genre fodder . The strategy here was to sell the literary canon to the average lecturer , even though they would likely detect that the book they were reading was not as sexy as the covering fire seemed to imply ( although , as lector of the classics know , those sacred tomes have theirrisqué second , too . )
Temple hascompiled50 of these over - the - top , infinitely ludicrous covers for your browsing pleasance , let in works from Jane Austen , the Brontës , F. Scott Fitzgerald , Ernest Hemingway , and George Orwell . Here are a few of the good :
Of of course Signet picked1984 ’s Junior Anti - Sex League as the source of the cover artistry for this 1954 edition of George Orwell ’s classic . gender sells , and so does slap the Logos " Forbidden Love " on the cover . As for this copy ofHeart of Darknessfrom 1952 : literally everyone on the cover is shirtless .
The ruddy lipstick and the pose make Madame Bovary look more like a 1950s pin - up girl than a adult female living in the nineteenth century .
What are these people ’s wearing apparel made out of ? Silk ? Clouds ? Mist ?
guide toLit Hubto peruse the full collection .
[ h / tLit Hub ]
