Virago Covers

I've uploaded a scan of the Dial cover for Ordinary Families and a high-resolution Penguin cover for The Fly on the Wheel.

Also, I've started putting links to covers of vmcs on my wiki list. (If the link is the word 'cover' it's a scan of my edition, the numbers are covers off of publishing websites). If anyone else has some high resolution scans that aren't on that page that they're willing to share, please email me a permanent link to the photo or the file. :)

(Excellent idea, Talbin--an announcement in the group is much easier than private messaging individuals as I had been doing).

Edited to add in note about Penguin cover

christiguc - I love finding hi-res covers of books I already have! Given that Amazon could change them at any time, I like making sure I have scans of my own books.

I have uploaded new high-res covers for Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, Frost in May (1992 Virago edition), The Rector's Daughter and Rhapsody.

Some Dial covers for Maurice Guest, Strangers, The Judge. Penguin of Sisters by a River. Virago edition of Barren Ground.

Thank you again christiguc - you inspired me to scan my library copy of Toby Shafter 's book America's Best Loved Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. It is an 'old' copy but has a lovely photo reminiscent of the time.

I added several hi-res covers today.

Christina, if you want me to e-mail any of them, just let me know which ones you'd like.

Bobbin Up
A Jest of God
Saraband
Blue Skies and Jack and Jill
A Servant's Tale
Family History
Loving without Tears
My Next Bride
Olivia

I uploaded a scan of the 1989 Virago edition of The Brontes Went to Woolworths (ISBN 0860689360).

I have a technical question: how does one upload a high-quality cover without exceeding LT's file size limit? My scanner allows me to choose resolution in dots per inch, but if I choose the highest (600dpi) the files are ginormous. And while the lower-res version I uploaded looks better than others uploaded previously, it's not designated "high quality".

Laura, I scan at the highest resolution and then upload the covers to my online photo storage (I'm in the middle of switching from AOL Pictures to flickr) where there is no file-size limit. Then, I grab by URL from my photo storage because it appears that LT doesn't limit that. Also, for upload directly from your computer, I think the LT limit is something like 1.2 MB even though it is stated as 600k.

What a wonderful pair of IT whizz kids - thank you ladies.

Aha, thanks! I did not realize I could use a URL.

Also, it takes awhile for "the system" to label the scans as high quality. The ones I uploaded almost 2 weeks ago still aren't labeled hi-res.

That's interesting, Talbin. What makes them high quality, anyway? What sort of resolution is needed?

>11 lauralkeet: Whoops, sorry lindsacl! I completely missed this thread way back when. I think high quality is anything over 100x100 or so. I've been uploading covers over 700x1000, though - they look so nice when they're so sharp.

I've just uploaded high quality scans of two green VMC's - Elizabeth and Her German Garden and Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.

Oooo, I forgot about this thread and posted the same info on the Message Board!

I recently uploaded:

The Writings of Anna Wickham Edited & introduced by R.D. Smith
Offside by Gisela Elsner

The only LT members here in the Virago group who have the copies are mrspenny (both) and outrageoussocks, Anna Wickham.

Thanks bleu - I have changed the covers on my copies.

So sorry I have forgotten we are meant to be letting each other know when we do add a super cover. Guess I become over excited with actually having accomplished it!!

I've just added three new high-res covers, all versions of VMC green:

Hester by Mrs. Oliphant
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather

Two more high-resolution covers:

The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold
Year Before Last by Kay Boyle (which unfortunately has a fold across the cover)

Since I've really started concentrating on VMC's I am feeling a bit nonplussed by the richness and variety available. I'm still building a collection and now I have found a way to narrow the range, so to speak. I originally was drawn in by the covers and I find that after # 400 there are only a limited number of covers that excite me. (23, to be exact and these are mainly between 400 and 426). So I'm not going to actively look for just VMC's for titles after the #400 style change.

I'm not going to give up the authors. I just won't worry about what edition I read.

I am sure this have been discussed to the point of boredom, but does anyone else feel that VMC lost a little magic when they opted to go with the more 21th century look?

On the contrary, Liz, I think that the new VMC covers for Barbara Pym, Muriel Spark, and Angela Carter are amazing and definitely magical.

I've been wondering about the series number when the style changed. Do you know approximately what year that was? I've been focused on older covers myself but I enjoy the literature so much that I'd like to collect newer works too. I'd hate to be holding out for a traditional cover if one didn't even exist!

The Constant Sinner was published in 1995, as Number 400. This Mae West book appears to be the first non-dark green cover. It has the lighter green stripe running on the left side of the cover with the logo of the bitten apple.

Does anyone know when the green covers changed from being solid green with the two stripes underneath the title and author, to being just solid green with no lines?

I prefer the older ones with the two lines myself because I like the typeface used on the front better. Interestingly though, I was in Foyle's on Charing Cross Road yesterday (just browsing I might add!) and I found Ethan Frome and some Sylvia Townsend Warner stories in old solid green with no stripes editions - either they had been hanging around unsold in Foyle's for a LONG time, or some books Virago still prints in the 'old' style...can anyone shed any light on this??

I can't answer your question bpm, but my Ethan Frome has the (**gag**) movie tie-in cover.

> Bpm – I have been collecting Virago editions since the mid 1970s – and have established the following time line for the change in covers by x-referencing my list and the editions:-

1973 – first Virago printed – The Fenwomen by Mary Chamberlain with dark
green cover background;

1978 – Virago Modern Classics launched with the traditional covers (i.e. elegant
art work on a dark green background with title and author in white
between two lines);

1982 – Virago Travellers and Virago Pioneers launched – both of these series
had covers dark green background but differed from the VMC’s because
most of those editions carried a portrait of the Pioneer or the Traveller
on which the edition was written; there were also some Traveller series
which carried a “maroon” background but with similar design (i.e. portrait
of the subject);

1989 - there was a “second series” of VMCs launched which carried different
cover design – although the dark green background was retained;

1995 - the “third series” of VMCs was launched with bright green covers with
bright vivid art design;

2003-4 – VMCs printed since this time have carried very modern designs.

This paragraph is on the last page of one of my very early editions:-

“Nearly 200 Virago Modern Classics will have been published in England by the end of 1986. During the same year Penguin books began to publish Virago Modern Classics in the United States with the expectation of having published some forty titles from the series available by the end of 1986. Some of the earlier books in the series were published in the United States by Dial Press”.

Note the Dial Press editions carried a black background but the same artwork as the English editions. Many of the titles were published by Penguin Press in Australia also and carried the dark green background and the same art work but also carried the Penguin emblem in the top right hand corner of each edition and on the bottom of the spine.

The ISBNs for the editions have changed also and it seems to coincide with the new “series” editions although I have recently discovered that some of the very early VMCs which have been re-issued have retained their original ISBN. The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins is one of those in which the later edition has retained its original ISBN. Some of the re-issues of the older editions carry new introductions by very modern authors.

Some of the later VMCs also carried a TV or movie tie-in as Belva mentioned.

The Dial Press and Penguin press also carried different ISBN numbers to Virago Press editions. It is helpful to know the ISBN series if you want to determine if the edition you want to purchase (sight unseen) is an earlier or later edition.

NonViragoites do not appreciate the distinction!!

Please note this is my research only and is not official – other Viragoites may be able to expand on this.

There is an Irish student who recently posted on the Virago Forum that she was undertaking a Masters on the artwork of the Virago Modern Classics but I don’t think she is a member of LT.

Hope this helps.

Patricia - question about my own collection...

I have a newer edition of Atwood's Lady Oracle - number 81 on the list. My cover is absolutely hideous - tacky, cheap, no effort put into it and the same is true of the copy I have of Broke Heart Blues. What did the original covers look like on these books or were they always hideous?

I am today posting Belva a movie tie in copy of Kate O'Brien's Mary Lavelle. It is published by Miramax and has a nice photo from the film on the cover and the movie title rather than the original one, but when I thumbed through it last night it IS the Virago. The format is the same, the distinctive type style. I even got my own Virago off the shelf and looked at it and it is the same book in a different cover. So - Belva you are getting half a Virago!

Patricia, I find your post quite helpful. Thank you!

Thanks Patricia, very helpful indeed!

I didn't realise Penguin had printed Viragos...I've never come across one like that. I've seen a couple of Dial Press Viragos on my travels but they don't have the same appeal as the green ones in my opinion. Did they not have any green ink in their printers?! It does seem strange that the very striking green was dropped for the American market. I wonder why they made that decision.

I have a veritable flock of penguins. They are almost as plentiful in the US as the Dial Press editions ("plentiful" being a relative word, you understand).

mrspenny, you are as always a font of information. I've added your cover information as a new tab on our Virago Collection Tracker. Note that ISBN information can also be found there (also courtesy of mrspenny).

Many thanks for this information Patricia. It is very helpful.

#26 romain, if you click on the touchstone for Lady Oracle then click "see all covers" (30) you will see the original Virago cover. I particularly like the original Atwood covers and have managed to pick up a copy of both Lady Oracle and The Edible Woman.

Thank you for the information, mrspenny.

Patricia - you have researched so wonderfully - thank you for sharing all that knowledge.

Well I learn something new every day. Thank you Bunny. I looked at the original Virago cover for Lady Oracle and it is lovely. I've got that awful one with the blouse and skirt on it. Like, what's that about! The Joyce Carol Oates one does not have an older Virago cover posted. The newer Virago one is pretty horrible, even compared to the other American covers.

I will buy (or not buy) a book on the strength of its cover - e.g. the Persephone Classics which I love.

I'm glad the information was useful..

#26 - I have an edition of Lady Oracle published in 1982 which carries the original Virago cover which is from 'My Away-Day' by Sally Ducksbury.

Barbara - My copy of Broke Heart Blues carries a cover containing part of a pink chevrolet? Is this the same as your copy?

lindsacl - excellent idea to have another strand on the tracker - collectively we have a very large bank of information on VMCs, their authors and associated works.

Yes, Patricia - an ugly pink chevy - what were they thinking?

Laura - when you say 'tracker' I presume the Google docs Excel document or have I missed something? I need to go over and update - at least I have some time now that the school term has ended!

>36 juliette07:: that's the one, Julie. The link will take you there ...

Thanks Laura =)

>#25:
This info was most helpful. I have been ordering some Viragos off the net and expecting the Virago green covers and they come and are pretty but not green and not at all what I expected. And I can order a Persephone classic and none of them have the dove gray covers. All are print.
So my library is never going to look like your lovely libraries.
(**heavy sigh**)
I so love the Virago greens, I cannot imagine why they would not publish all of them in that style. It so sets them apart. Same with the Persephones.
Okay, enough whining--though I am certain some of you lovely ladies were getting ready to serve up some cheese and crackers with my "whine".
hugs all round,
belva

nannybebette, Persephone Classics are the ones with cover art and the ones with dove grey covers are the normal Pesrsephones. I don't know where you are buying from but when you search for the title then the photograph displayed should either be classic, grey, or the endpaper design which appears in the grey editions. Have a look at the Persephone website to view what the endpapers and titles look like; there aren't many Classics yet.

Personally Belva I love the Persephone Classics covers, having discovered them first. I only have one grey one which I got second hand. I have found the list Laura suggested I look at very helpful - the ISBN list which I don't have the link for but someone does - which will give you a much clearer idea of what you are ordering. But Americans at least do not have the continuity of covers the Brits have and your collection probably looks a lot like mine.

Thank you ladies for all the helpful info. IDK why I thought they were all Persephone Classics. Okay, now I know.

Belva - Persephone greys - about 80 of them. Persephone Classics - selected titles from the above 80 republished with fancy covers. A marketing ploy no doubt.

I'm sure. But the one nice thing is that they each have the same marvelous story within the covers.
belva

I've uploaded some covers recently:

Crossriggs
Open the Door!
The Persimmon Tree and Other Stories
Precious Bane
Thank Heaven Fasting
Troy Chimneys
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead
Zoe

Zoe is the proper touchstone for the Virago novel by Geraldine Jewsbury. Wouldn't want anyone to miss Andrew's excellent work there.

Thank you -- I never even noticed that something was amiss!

Andrew, your covers are such an improvement on the ones I downloaded quite a while ago!

I am in need of a new scanner but, right now, other expenses have the priority, so thank you for posting them!
:-))

I have uploaded the covers for Hackenfeller's Ape by Brigid Brophy and
One of Ours by Willa Cather

Grazie, Paola! I wish I could do a really high-resolution scan like some folks, but the only time I scan anything is when I need a cover for LT. Which doesn't quite justify the expense of a new printer/scanner. Last night I uploaded a scan of the Dial Press edition of Hunt the Slipper.

I had a mad Virago cataloguing/scanning binge a while ago, and put up some high qualities of these:

The Rising Tide
Moonraker
The House in Clewe Street
Travel Light
South Riding (unfortunately including a sticker I didn't want to risk removing)
Cassandra (along with the cover for the other Virago non-Modern-Classic edition we own...)
The Ballad and the Source
A Pin to See the Peepshow
The Holiday (the second style of cover; I've just got an earlier edition so that will be going up soon)
Novel on Yellow Paper
Cassandra at the Wedding
The Sugar House
The Fire-Dwellers
The Lying Days
The Friendly Young Ladies
The Passion of New Eve
Over the Frontier
The Odd Women
The True Heart
The Constant Nymph
Precious Bane (a photo not a scan, hence slight wonkiness)
Spinster
A Note in Music
Mr. Fortune's Maggot
Elizabeth and her German Garden
The Land of Green Ginger
The Corner that Held Them

Phew! I have acquired a few more since then, so they will be going up soon.

Some of these had high quality versions already, which I should have checked for...

Christiguc, these are all on Flickr, so if you'd like to link to any of them just drop me a message.

eta: some I'd forgotten

Excellent work! I was able to upgrade the covers of several in my collection. Thank you!

Well done, lady!

More coming tonight!

You rock!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hokey doke - now up we have:

Devoted Ladies
Mad Puppetstown
The Holiday (original version)
The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
Open The Door!
Christopher and Columbus
The Robber Bridegroom
Luminous Isle
Pilgrimage 1
Mary Lavelle
and an improved Life and Death of Harriet Frean

My Flickr set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ringaringarosa/sets/72157620552307751/ if anyone wants to see them HUGE :)

I've just uploaded a new Delta Wedding.

So, my birthday trip to Hay-on-Wye was extremely productive... I've just put up:

After the Death of Don Juan
The Roaring Nineties
Golden Miles
Winged Seeds
The Rector and the Doctor's Family
Miss Marjoribanks
Phoebe Junior
The Corn King and the Spring Queen
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (FULL UNCENSORED TEXT!!!)
Lantana Lane
Rhapsody (penguin cover)
That Lady
The Wild Geese
Susan Spray
The Reef
The Love Child
At The Still Point
The Little Disturbances of Man
The Lost Traveller
Women in the Wall
For Love Alone
Daughter of Earth
Marriage by Susan Ferrier - can't make the touchstone work :(

Wow! what a haul! I don't have that many Viragoes all together.

I am impressed!!!!!! I wish I were close to Hay.........

Oh my ..... !!
*faints*

I was given £100 specifically for the trip, so could *almost* buy without guilt. Seeing them all written down is a bit scary though :s

Lady Cass - I own several from your list but have only read 3. What's with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow being uncensored. Christiguc - didn't you say once that you did not enjoy that book?

Oh you found The Corn King and the Spring Queen! What an unbelievable haul, wow!

Arrgh, I've just realised there are 5 I haven't done the covers for yet - a couple of Winifrid Holtbys, a Storm Jameson, an Elizabeth Taylor and an E. H. Young. Up soon!

Yeah, I've not heard brilliant things about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - I saw a couple of copies while I was in Hay, so perhaps that does not bode well... I'll have a stab at it though (when I've read some of the others!)

I've just uploaded a new cover for Mandoa, Mandoa!

These too:
The Solitary Summer
The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen
Love
Mr. Skeffington
The Happy Foreigner
The Squire
Red Pottage
Fenny
Winter Sonata
Rhapsody
Conversation Piece
Two Days in Aragon
The Brimming Cup
A Stricken Field
Poor Caroline
Anderby Wold
The Crowded Street
The Lacquer Lady (Dial)
The Weather in the Streets (Dial)
A Note in Music (Dial)
The Little Ottleys (Dial)
Hunt the Slipper (Dial)
Delta Wedding

>63 romain:, 65 Yes, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was one VMC I emphatically didn't like. The writing wasn't cohesive, the prose was dense and boring, and there was no discernible character exploration (which is one of the main draws of VMCs, in my opinion).

And I don't think I'm alone in this dislike--urania gave it a lower star-rating than I did, and I think bleuroses and charbutton also didn't like it? (It's LT-rating, although not definitive, is 2.13).

But, of course, read it yourself and make your own evaluation! :)

> 63, 65, 68 Me three. I tried to read that one three or four times over the years and found it stupefyingly dull every time. I finally just gave up.

Today's covers:

Sunlight on a Broken Column
Love in Winter
None Turn Back
Ladies of Lyndon (Dial)
Deborah
The Squire's Daughter
The Third Miss Symons
The Bread and Butter Stories
The Land of Spices
Without My Cloak
The Ante-Room
Phoebe Junior
Cullum
From Man to Man
Millennium Hall
Mary Olivier (Dial)
The Three Sisters
A Little Tea, A Little Chat
A Deputy Was King

Have you noticed that it takes a while before the newly uploaded covers appear on the page?
And some of those you added yesterday, Andrew (for example Red Pottage), have not been loaded.

That's annoying. Thanks for the heads-up, Paola. I'll go back through the list and see what didn't upload.

I've heard it takes a while. Not sure how long "while" is, but I'm not sure it's under our control.

I had to redo a few, but they all seem to be there now. I also added:

The Rector and The Doctor's Family
The Perpetual Curate
Salem Chapel
Sunlight on a Broken Column Penguin India edition
The Gentlewomen
The Sleeping Beauty (Dial)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
At Mrs. Lippincote's
Gone to Earth (Dial)
The House in Dormer Forest
Beyond the Glass (Dial)
The Sugar House (Dial)
The Lost Traveller (Dial)
The Clever Woman of the Family
The Misses Mallett (Dial)
Miss Mole (Dial)
The Curate's Wife

I wanted to upload On the Side of the Angels as well, but Betty Miller seems to have gone AWOL. God knows which box she crawled into. (I know my nieces are noisy, Betty, but the war is over, you can come out now!)

You cover adder folk are incredibly helpful. Thank you, from those of us who lack a scanner.

Thanks all! I have a scanner but haven't made time to create high-quality images. Many thanks for the improved covers, they look so much prettier in hi-res.

Thank you VERY MUCH, Andrew!! You are a precious friend indeed (covers aside).
:-))

Glad to do it. Unemployment isn't all bad. ; )

I just uploaded a Virago cover for Nobody's Business by Penelope Gilliatt and the original cover for Mondoa, Mandoa by Winifred Holtby because I think it is really pretty