WWI Aviation books cover art

[Kilian]

Very nice thread


by Claus Bergen


unknown to me


unknown to me

[dpolglaze]

I tried to take some more pictures tonight, but can't get the light to be less yellow - so more to follow, but here's some I took last week - some more whimsical and less aerial combat - I'll take more of those later...

unknown


by Don Wootton


by J.D. Carrick


don't know - can't find the book right now - guess I have to clean ...


by Keith Woodcock


Dan

[Patrick]

Here's a few more --

By George Evans.




The rest of the artwork in this post was done by Chris Thomas.

[Patrick]

And these are more of Barry Weekley's work --

[Gregvan]

Hi,

Hey, Kilian, thanks so much for posting those marvelous old German book covers! I have Der Flieger Thom but my copy lacks the dust jacket The German artists of the war years, '20s and '30s had a marvelous graphic style.
Anyway, here's another in the "Hobby Helpers" series, this book on Fokkers of WWI by Peter M. Bowers. The cover is by J.D. Carrick, whose work is always first-rate.

[Gregvan]

Hi,

This is a book for young people (published in 1958) in the "Great Stories of Canada" series. The cover is by William Wheeler, who also did the charming black and white sketches that illustrate the book. The cover is a very accurate depiction of Capt. Hank Burden's SE5a C'1096 of 56 Squadron - done some 37 years before High in the Empty Blue came out!

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Originally Posted by Gregvan

Hi,

This is a book for young people ...

Bonjour Greg!

How many times did I sign Knights of the Air out from the library? The card in the envelope on the inside of the back cover may well have had only one name scrawled on. Even as a child I found some of the exploits difficult to believe ... after reading the book one may forgiven for believing that pilots born in Canada were responsible for winning The Great War. How I loved those pen and ink sketches in the book and the cover! ... wonder if the preference for the S.E.5 types over the Camels could be traced to that wonderful painting by Wheeler?

...wish I had a copy of that book ... surprised that the librarian did not say "Just take it home and keep it".

You might be interested to know that the last painting completed by my father was for the cover of a biography written for children about "Wop" May (see the link below). The author of the book must have used Knights of the Air as source as The Red Baron is presented as being dealt with by Roy Brown exclusivly. If you read the review you will note that cover artwork is criticized ... not for possible historical inaccuracy, but, for glorifying war ...

Well, it is an excellent painting which I am proud to own.

CM Magazine: Conquer the Sky: Flying Ace Wop May.

Salut mon ami!
Kirk

[Gregvan]

Bonjour Kirk,

I'm glad I brought back some good childhood memories for you. There were a number of books on WWI in my little hometown library that must have had my own number on the check-out card as the only reader, repeated over and over again too. I would imagine you could find a copy of this book on some of the used book sites on the Web.

Those of us who attended the last Over the Front seminar were privileged to hear Denny May recount the exploits of his dad 'Wop'. It may interest you to know that my upcoming issue of the Journal will feature Denny's own article detailing the whole career of his illustrious father, entitled "More than a Double Ace".

Very best regards,

Greg

[Gregvan]

Hi All,

Here's the book referenced by Kirk, with cover art by his father Ron Lowry. I (for one) am GLAD the artist chose to portray 'Wop' May's encounter with MvR on the cover!

[Gregvan]

Here is the cover to a French paperback of René Chambe's Au Temps des Carabines. The author was both a participant in and historian of the initial days of WWI aerial combat, when dogfights were conducted with carbines and small arms. It covers the early exploits of such worthies as Navarre, Guynemer and de Rose. Wish I could read French!