Twenty-Five Lady Chatterley’s Lover Covers

Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (which was rather late for me) - Between the end of the "Chatterley" ban And the Beatles' first LP.

Connie was aware, however, of a growing restlessness…It thrilled inside her body, in her womb, somewhere, till she felt she must jump into water and swim to get away from it; a mad restlessness. It made her heart beat violently for no reason…

D.H. Lawrence’s infamous novel was initially published privately in 1928 in Italy, and then subsequently the following year in France and Australia. An unexpurgated edition was first published in the United Kingdom in 1960, thirty years after the author’s death. The novel became the subject of an important obscenity trial against Penguin Books a year after the introduction of Roy Jenkin’s Obscene Publications Act – which for the first time allowed a defence of artistic merit. During the trial the chief prosecutor, Mervyn Griffith-Jones, was ridiculed after asking if Lady Chatterley’s Lover was the kind of book “you would wish your wife or servants to read”. The publisher won the case, after a a jury of three women and nine men returned a unanimous “not guilty” verdict, took advantage of the huge publicity and quickly sold 3 million copies.

Lawrence’s novel is said to have derived from events in Lawrence’s own unhappy domestic life and he took inspiration for the settings of the book from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, where he grew up. Others have suggested that a major influence for the story was a fling between Lady Ottoline Morrell and “Tiger”, a young stonemason who came to carve plinths for her garden statues. Tragically Tiger died in the arms of his aristocratic lover after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 1922.

 

Front cover of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', Penguin edition, 1960

Front cover of ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’, Penguin edition, 1960

 

L'Amant de Lady Chatterley - French edition 1993

L’Amant de Lady Chatterley – French edition 1993

 

penguin-australia-2011

Penguin Australia 2011

lady-chatterleys-lover-from-1959

An abridged paperback version published by ACE in 1959

 

L'Amant de Lady Chatterley - French edition 1985

L’Amant de Lady Chatterley – French edition 1985

 

lady-chatterley-signet-edition

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence. Published by Signet Classics in 1962, illustrated by Tupshur

 

Lady Chatterley Library edition

Lady Chatterley Library edition

 

lady-chatterley-hardback-intro-mark-schorer-new-york-grove-press-1959-first-edition

Grove Press First Edition 1959

 

lady-chatterlys-lover-by-d-h-lawrence-penguin-signet-610-1946-cover-art-by-tony-varady

Signet edition 1946, cover art by Tony Varady

lady-chatterley-american-no-picture

Paperback version of the Grove Press Edition

 

dh-lawrence-lady-chatterleys-lover-1928-the-new-american-library-of-world-literature-inc-new-york-1959

New American Library of World Literature, New York 1959

 

d-h-lawrence-lady-chatterleys-lover-published-by-heinemann-1960-first-complete-and-unexpurgated-edition

Heinemann first complete and unexpurgated edition, 1960.

 

d-h-lawrence-lady-chatterleys-lover-signet-double-volume-d1428-published-1946-10th-printing-1958

Signet 10th printing 1958

 

colombian-edition-1981

Colombian edition 1981

 

1946-2nd-print-lady-chatterleys-lover-by-d-h-lawrence-cover-art-by-robert-jonas-penguin

1946 2nd print cover art by Robert Jonas Penguin

lady-chatterleys-lover-florence-privately-printed-1928

Lady Chatterley’s Lover privately printed in Florence, 1928

 

Signet 610 (Jan., 1950). Sixth Printing with New Cover

Signet 610 (Jan., 1950). Sixth Printing with New Cover

 

lady-chatterleys-lover-pegasus-press-1938

Pegasus Press, Paris, 1938

 

lady-chatterleys-lover-new-york-pirate-1928

New York pirate edition 1928

lady-chatterleys-lover-belt-penguin

Penguin Classics Published 1st June 2006

 

Signet 610 (Jan., 1950). Sixth Printing with New Cover

Signet 610 (Jan., 1950). Sixth Printing with New Cover

penguin-lady-chatterleys-lover-richard-hoggart

Penguin edition introduced by Richard Hoggart

penguin-lady-chatterley-50th-anniversary

50th Anniversary edition by Penguin

penguin-essential-by-lucy-mclauchlan

Penguin essential illustrated by Lucy McLauchlan

 

Would you like to support Flashbak?

Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.