Shelf Candy Saturday #26: A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L'Engle

This wonderful book meme/blog hop

is hosted by

Stephanie @

The purpose of this feature is to display

a beautiful book cover,

with information, if available,

about the cover illustrator,

photographer, and/or designer.

For all the participation rules,

just click

HERE.

Here's my choice for this week!

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

(Time #3)

Madeleine L'Engle

Hardcover, 288 pages

Farrar, Strauss and Giroux

July 1, 1978

Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Why do I love this cover?

The minute I saw this book, it was instant cover love!  Everything about this cover calls out to me -- the fact that a winged unicorn (I used to draw those in grade school!) is part of the design, the stylized, Art Deco influence of the whole layout, the circle behind the boy and the horse, which is sprinkled with stars and some clouds...even the colors, which are very earthy and muted, and normally would not be to my taste at all!  I also love the contrast between drawing styles -- the boy and the horse are done in a more abstract manner, while the strange, head/bird/dragon figures below them are more realistic, and the brown flowers are also more abstract.  To make things even more interesting, there's that realistic-looking head of a young boy at the very bottom of the cover.   He's looking up at the scene above him, as if he were having a vision, or perhaps remembering the previous night's dream of a fantastical world.

The figure of that winged unicorn is so very beautiful!  His neck arches gracefully, his wings are majestic and meticulously detailed, and yet, there's a touch of whimsy about him.  He's glancing at the boy sitting on his back, out of the corner of his eye.  Another interesting detail about the unicorn's figure: it reminds me of the horse figures on ancient Greek vases.  That makes this cover even more interesting, since it shows a knowledge of art history.  Besides, every artist that ever lived has been influenced by previous artists, and incorporated those influences into a unique art style. 

I found this book on eBay, specifically at an online store known as Downtown Books.  They also have a physical store location, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but I'm not likely to go there anytime soon!  What I love about their hardcovers is that most of them have dust jackets covered in mylar.  Besides, they have a lot of vintage books.  I also purchased one of my past SCS features, The Robe, at this store.

When I received this book in the mail, and saw who the cover illustrators were, I knew why I had loved that cover on sight!  The artists are a husband and wife team, and they are legendary in the book illustration world -- Leo and Diane Dillon!  The book jacket layout is by Suzanne Haldane.  The font used for the title and author's name, which is very classically simple, is probably also her choice.  Unfortunately, I could not find any information about this designer.

I have several books in my collection with covers done by the Dillons.  I found them either at second-hand bookstores, or neighborhood yard sales.  I've always been attracted to the work of these artists!

Sadly, Leo Dillon died from lung cancer on May 26, 2012, at the age of 79. 

Where To Buy This Edition:  Amazon

Leo and Diane Dillon

(photo by Beth Gwinn, Locus Online Magazine)

From the Locus Magazine Article

Leo Dillon (Lionel John Dillon, Jr.) and Diane Dillon (née Diane Claire Sorber) were born 11 days apart in March 1933, on opposite coasts. He grew up in Brooklyn, she was born and raised in California, and they met in 1953 while attending Parsons School of Design in New York City. They married in 1957. Son Lee (Lionel John Dillon III), born in 1965, also became an artist; in the '90s, he collaborated with them on several projects, including the illustrations for Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard (1991).

They met Harlan Ellison in 1959, after doing illustrations for Rogue, the men's magazine he was then editing in Chicago. That meeting would eventually have major consequences for the field of SF and fantasy art, thanks to their illustrations for Dangerous Visions (1967), and a subsequent meeting

with Terry Carr, who recruited them as cover artists for the Ace Specials in the '60s and '70's.It was mainly that work

for Ace which earned them their

1971 Hugo for SF art.

You can access the entire article,

which includes a

fascinating interview with Karen Haber,

HERE.

For further information:

The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon

Wikipedia article on the Dillons

JVJ Publishing: Leo and Diane Dillon page

NCCIL: Leo and Diane Dillon

So what do you think

of this cover?

What beautiful cover(s)

are you featuring this week?