Penguin Classics Covers

Penguin Classics has been printing books with the same triband cover design since 1946: black stripe on top, illustration in the middle, black stripe on the bottom. A row of them on a shelf still looks right. Cover illustrations are commissioned specifically for each title, usually a detail from a painting that connects to the text. Matching art to literature is its own editorial act. I picked up their edition of Giovanni's Room because the cover painting was beautiful before I even read the back. Warm ochre and blue, with a figure that felt lonely and composed at the same time.