Hundreds of vintage Science Fiction paperback and SF magazine covers! Plenty of eye-popping covers by Ed Valigursky, Chesley Bonestell, Ed Emshwiller, Richard Powers, and dozens of other artists from the 1940s and 1950s. I was surprised that Josh Kirby’s artwork showed up on so many SF paperbacks and SF magazine covers from that era.
Much of the focus of Rayguns & Spaceships is on SF in post World War II England. However, many of the covers will look familiar since those covers also showed up on American SF paperbacks and magazines.
Are you a fan of SF artwork? Do you have a favorite SF artist? GRADE: A
Quite right, George, the English do (or did) this wonderfully, with a gaudy bluntness that suckers me in every time.
Dan, RAYGUNS & ROCKETSHIPS is one of the best collections of Vintage Science Fiction cover art ever published! A great book!
Hard to choose a single favorite, but Edmund Emshwiller might be the one, with many Alternates.
Todd, I’m a big fan of EMSH, too!
I’m a sucker for vintage sci-fi and space art although the only artists I know by name are Richard Powers and Chesley Bonestell. I have a copy of “The Conquest of Space” that I treasure.
I grew up during the Gemini and Apollo era so a lot of the best space art was before my time and although much of it was already obsolete and dated looking it always seemed more romantic and exotic (the very cool production design of “2001” being the sole exception). I still picture the moon as craggy and mountainous the way Bonestell painted it and remember being disappointed at how soft and featureless it actually looked during the moon walk broadcasts. This sounds like a great book and I’ll look into it.
“Sci-fi” marks one as an outlander, fwiw…a bit worse than insisting on writing “whodunnit” when referring to crime fiction. Or “oater” for westerns.
Byron, from your fondness of Power and Bonestell, I can guarantee you will love RAYGUNS AND ROCKETSHIPS! Fabulous SF artwork by the artists you love, plus a whole lot more!