Our recent post of Dr. No promo art got us thinking about the popularity of the Ian Fleming novel, so today we’ve compiled a collection of Dr. No covers detailing their evolution through the years. At top is an original 1958 hardback with art by Pat Marriot, worth about $150 in mint condition, and at bottom is a 2007 hardback reprint from Penguin featuring art from Michael Gillette and Jon Gray. In between are thirteen more covers spanning the intervening forty-nine years.
1939—Holiday Records Strange Fruit
American blues and jazz singer Billie Holiday records “Strange Fruit”, which is considered to be the first civil rights song. It began as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, which he later set to music and performed live with his wife Laura Duncan. The song became a Holiday standard immediately after she recorded it, and it remains one of the most highly regarded pieces of music in American history.
