Posted by Patrick Fox on November 22, 1997 at 09:58:20:
In Reply to: Cover Query posted by Mary on November 22, 1997 at 08:37:58:
The Red Fox editions are the only ones I've come across which don't use Ransome's own drawings as the covers. The "original" hardback editions from Jonathan Cape have superb paper dustjackets which are a "patchwork" of a dozen or so illustrations from the book itself. These have always been my favourite covers - looking at them you can mentally page through the entire story.
When I started buying Ransomes, however, I used to buy the paperback "Puffin" editions from Penguin. These had as their covers one picture from within which would have been coloured with a fairly limited palette of just 3 or 4 colours. For example, the front cover to "The Picts and the Martyrs" is the illustration entitled It hasn't tumbled down yet. They make quite good covers and of course have the classic advantage of any Ransome illustration of leaving the faces to the imagination (I believe he couln't draw faces!).
The only exception to this was the Puffin edition of Swallows and Amazons, which used a still from the film, both boats in the foreground, Wild Cat Island in the background.
Red Fox have obviously commisioned their own illustrations. Raised on the traditional ones, I have found them rather irritating. Firstly they do try to give you a picture of the children by showing them in more detail than the Ransome illustrations. That's not necessarily a bad thing for a cover, though. Main main grievance is their lack of accuracy. Unfortunately I don't have any and I can't remember them clearly enough to give examples, but those with the books will know how scenes are often amalgamated and details incorrect on the cover illustrations. The nice thing about Ransome's illustrations has always been their total faithfullness to the books. (Although has anyone else noticed that in the illustration used on the cover of the Puffin "Secret Water", On the way to the islands, the Goblin doesn't seem to be towing Wizard, which it should be).
The lack of factual accuracy of the Red Fox covers would no doubt have annoyed Ransome too. "Swallowdale" and "Swallows and Amazons" were originally illustrated by Clifford Webb in a rather romantic style. The pictures that I've seen were quite atmospheric, with lots of black ink, but not as accurate AR would have liked. Hugh Brogan gives a good account of things in his "Life of Arthur Ransome", comparing two illustrations of the Swallows approaching the Amazon boathouse with AR's comment on the Webb drawing "It very rarely happens that the steersman sits as you have drawn Susan". I don't know, but I wonder, if this is the explanation for the different looking map in the Red Fox "Swallows and Amazons" - have they gone back to an earlier drawing?
Cheers
Patrick