Welcome to my blog, featuring various pieces from my collection of Oz books, artwork and memorabilia!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Phoebe Tilson

Phoebe Tilson is another Rand McNally title with a W. W. Denslow cover design. This time around Denslow has created a delicate image, very different from some of the bold covers he came up with for this company. The simple drawing of a highchair, locket and closed window with cobweb and geranium plant wraps around the covers and spine of the book.
This is also an example of a cover without Denslow's seahorse logo, which makes me think it's a later printing.

This is also another title with a poster in the collection of the New York Public Library, shown at the right. It makes an interesting comparison since the poster focuses primarily on the figure of a woman, presumably Phoebe, and the book cover gives the impression of a deserted room. It makes a fascinating contrast. It's clearly the same window and geranium! I'll have to read the book to see how both images relate to the story.

2 comments:

Bell-Snickle said...

These Denslow covers are great. Have you just found them by chance or are their records of all the covers he did?

Bill Campbell said...

I've found some by chance, but there's also a list of quite a few at the back of the W. W. Denslow biography written by Douglas Greene and Michael Hearn, published in 1976 by the Central Michigan University. I know this doesn't include everything he did, but I think it covers the majority.