Various Approaches to the Problem of Sherlock Holmes

Recent approaches to a much-covered subject...

Michael Kirkham for White's Books (see also here):


Coralie Bickford-Smith for Penguin (see also here):


Unknown for Vintage Classics UK:


Unknown for Atlantic Crime Classics (see also here):


And finally, Glen Orbik for Hard Case Crime (see also here):


UPDATE: Karen Horton, no mean designer herself, points me towards two more recent Holmesian covers.

The first is by Jen Wang, for Penguin US:


The second is by Rob Grom, for Thomas Dunne Books:


UPDATE 2: Regarding the Hard Case Crime cover, the ever-wise Tulkinghorn points out this extensive discussion of it with the publisher here, which also refers to this Orwell cover.

Criminal

Atlantic Books have just launched a new series of 'Crime Classics', reprinting a mix of well-known and little-known great crime novels and story collections from the 18th, 19th and very early 20th centuries. As a reader, it's the little-known stuff I'm most interested in, like Gerald Griffin's The Collegians or Sheridan Le Fanu's Wylder's Hand, since there are no shortage of editions of Bleak House, Sherlock Holmes stories or Poe's mysteries on the market.

But take a look at them! They're beautifully designed books, nicely combining a retro 1950s/60s style with some very modern twists. The series look was created by an entity known as Wallzo, while each cover was illustrated by a different artist. Click for bigger versions.












Lovely stuff. The plan, apparently, is to put out a new book in the series each month at least until the end of 2009.

Now, next post will be an interview with the generous and multi-talented Coralie Bickford-Smith. You can prepare yourself by reading these previous posts on her work.