22 Amazing Edward McKnight Kauffer Book Covers

 

'Crazy Like a Fox' - Garden City Publishing Co. reprint edition, 1945.

‘Crazy Like a Fox’ – Garden City Publishing Co. reprint edition, 1945.

 
Edward McKnight Kauffer is almost certainly best known for his posters that he produced for London Underground – 140 of them. So it seems slightly strange that he was born in Great Falls Montana. Via the Art Institute of Chicago Kauffer arrived in Paris in 1913 where he met his partner and later wife, the textile designer, Marion Dorn. They moved to London a year later at the outbreak of WW1 and lived in Britain’s capital until 1940 when Kauffer returned to New York where he designed book covers and in 1947 became a client of American Airways – producing many notable posters for the company. He died in 1954.

While Kauffer was in Chicago he witnessed the Armory Show one of the first exhibitions in the US that introduced modernism. It had a major impact on Kauffer who showed abstract influences including cubism, vorticism and futurism all his working life.

 

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Modern Library 1934.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Modern Library 1934.

 

'Background to Danger' by Eric Ambler,

‘Background to Danger’ by Eric Ambler,

 

'Halfway House' by Ellery Queen, Pocket Books, January 1945.

‘Halfway House’ by Ellery Queen, Pocket Books, January 1945.

 

The Delicate Prey and Other Stories by Paul Bowles, c.1950.

The Delicate Prey and Other Stories by Paul Bowles, c.1950.

 

'Requiem for a Nun' by William Faulkner, 1951.

‘Requiem for a Nun’ by William Faulkner, 1951.

 

'Marin'a by T. S. Eliot -  1930 edition.

‘Marin’a by T. S. Eliot – 1930 edition.

 

Point Counter Point by Alfous Huxley, Modern Library 1942.

Point Counter Point by Alfous Huxley, Modern Library 1942.

 

I, My Ancestor by Nancy Wilson Ross. Random House, 1950.

I, My Ancestor by Nancy Wilson Ross. Random House, 1950.

 

Ulysses by James Joyce. Random House, 1946.

Ulysses by James Joyce. Random House, 1946.

 

Native Son by Richard Wright. Modern Library, 1945.

Native Son by Richard Wright. Modern Library, 1945.

 

The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett. Modern Library, 1959.

The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett. Modern Library, 1959.

 

Light In August by William Faulkner. Modern Library, 1955.

Light In August by William Faulkner. Modern Library, 1955.

 

The Complete Works Of Rabelais by Rabelais. Modern Library, 1959.

The Complete Works Of Rabelais by Rabelais. Modern Library, 1959.

 

The Best of S.J. Perelman by S.J. Perelman. Modern Library, 1963.

The Best of S.J. Perelman by S.J. Perelman. Modern Library, 1963.

 

Women In Love by D.H. Lawrence. Modern Library, 1950.

Women In Love by D.H. Lawrence. Modern Library, 1950.

 

Tristam Shandy and A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne. Modern Library Giant, 1941.

Tristam Shandy and A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne. Modern Library Giant, 1941.

 

Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne. Modern Library Books, 1954.

Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne. Modern Library Books, 1954.

 

Sheep Rock by George R Stewart. Random House, 1951.

Sheep Rock by George R Stewart. Random House, 1951.

 

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Modern Library, 1958.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Modern Library, 1958.

 

Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge. Sun Dial Press, 1946. (A reprint of the 1944 edition by Coward McCann, Inc.)

Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge. Sun Dial Press, 1946. (A reprint of the 1944 edition by Coward McCann, Inc.)

 

Roseanna McCoy by Alberta Hannum. Henry Holt and Company, 1947.

Roseanna McCoy by Alberta Hannum. Henry Holt and Company, 1947.

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