If you’ve been visiting the site for a while, you perhaps remember the cover we shared for H.R. Lenormand’s Renée, which shows a lonely woman staring out of her room at the majestic—and in that context clearly metaphorical—Eiffel Tower. Since then we’ve seen the tower pop up on many covers, including Passion in Paris by Harrison Stone, above, so today we’ve compiled a collection. Most of these examples view the tower as just an innocent civic landmark, but take it from us—once the idea that it stands for something else gets into your head you really can’t get it out. Interestingly, while the tower appears on many U.S. book fronts, we found it on only two of the hundreds of French covers we have. Perhaps they consider it too banal. Twenty-one scans below.
1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed
The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).