ARTISTIC MAGAZINES
The London Magazine (1732-present)
A prominent London Magazine illustrator, Tom Purvis, is a magic name in the annals of graphic art. His posters for vacation spots brought within reach by various British rail companies come close to being ideal evocations of good times, by virtue of their exceptional sense of color and composition. Especially effective in conveying insouciance is the chromatic methodology of planes of flat, richly saturated colors.
This device, redolent of patrician simplicity, was also brought to bear in a series of covers for a publication,The London Magazine, catering to upwardly mobile, "smart" young things in the boom times of the 1920s. The contents include fiction, celebrity and news reports. The cover examples from our collection run the published gamut of placid fun-seeking, domestic ease and confidence in a future that would soon become not only a crisis of confidence but a not inconsiderable triumph,
Format: 9 3/4" x 6 1/2"; approximately 120 pp.; illustrated in black and white; covers in very good condition, the contents in excellent condition; text in English.
Touring Club Italiano (1894-present)
Issues of this Italian journal from the early years of the twentieth century touch, in special ways, upon the dynamics of early modern history. First there is the pretext of providing readers with up to the minute information about the thrilling new phenomenon of automobile travel. Many of the brilliantly designed and printed covers deal with aspects of touring by car and aspects of specific brands and accessories. In addition, some covers refer to the role of such vehicles in the real time struggles of World War I, and some articles deal in details with aspects of the war and travel. In addition to that, the contents and the covers celebrate modern life in its new fashions, habits and general raciness. Some of the great Italian graphic designers of that time, including Marcello Dudovich, frequently contributed work for this little publication that should be better known.
Format: 9 1/4" x 6 3/8"; approximately 75 pp.;covers very good condition, specifics available on request; text in Italian.
View enlargement to see both front cover and back cover.
We also have many single front covers, without magazine content. Please visit our Small Format Gems Gallery.
ARTISTIC MAGAZINES