A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess (Penguin SF)
Published by Penguin Books January 1972 with cover art by David Pelham. The image shows a 1973 reprint.
To Pelham’s surprise his cog-eyed droog went on to acquire iconic status and is now regarded as one of the best book covers of all time. It is probably the longest serving cover of all time too, since it remained in use for over twenty-five years, except for a reprint in 1973 which retained the strap-line ‘A TERRIFYING NOVEL … NOW A TERRIFYING FILM’ but used the artwork from Philip Castle’s film poster. — James Pardey
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Photo: Bradhurst Fine Editions.
This early 1990s reprint replaces Eurostile with Binder Style and Messe-Grotesk licht. The starburst O and the arrow on K are customizations.
Jacqueline Graham, wo is David Pelham’s wife, mentions that this cover was “designed overnight […] as emergency, after Kubrick refused film tie-in cover”.