Dust Jackets
Dust jackets are another intriguing but often overlooked aspect of visual Arthuriana. As an art form, dust jackets not only serve to pique the interest of readers but also offer clues to the characters and stories they will encounter. Yet many libraries do not recognize dust jackets as part of the “book as artifact” and discard them before shelving books for their patrons. The dust jackets displayed here vary in style; but all of them provide aesthetically pleasing hints to the books’ contents at the same time that they serve as commercial advertisements meant to attract the attention of readers and buyers.
The Duke of War by Walter O’Meara
Dust jacket illustration by Enrico Arno
The Dragon Lord by David Drake
Dust jacket illustration by Gianni Benvenuti
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Dust jacket illustration by Braldt Bralds
Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Dust jacket illustration by Brian O’Hanlon
Tristram of Lyonesse by Ruth Collier Sharpe
Dust jacket illustration by Richard Sharpe
Merlin’s Mirror by Andre Norton
Dust jacket illustration by David Hardy
The Little Wench by Philip Lindsay
Dust jacket illustrator not named
Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach
(translated into modern German by Marit Laurin)
Dust jacket illustration by Alexander Reichstein
Beloved Exile by Parke Godwin
Dust jacket illustration by Heidi Oberheide
King of the Lordless Country by Roy Turner
Dust jacket illustration by Peter Mackarell
In Winter’s Shadow by Gillian Bradshaw
Dust jacket illustration by Fred Marcellino