Vintage Pulp

May 12 2023

THE UNFORGIVEN

*sob* Have a few affairs, trash a hotel room, wreck a car, slap a child—and your reputation is ruined. It isn't fair.

Above is a cover for Day Keene’s 1954 novel Notorious, republished in Italian by Longanesi & Co. in 1958 with cover art by John Floherty, Jr. The art reminded us that we have a couple of Keene books, so we’re going to move him near the top of the pile because he’s always given us a wild read. Meanwhile, if all goes well, one of our beloved pulp mules will be bringing us a group of fun paperbacks from the U.S., including efforts from Milton K. Ozaki, Lou Cameron, Chester Himes, and Dorothy Salisbury Davis. We hope to have a summer of great reading.

Italy, Longanesi & Co., Day Keene, John Floherty Jr., cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

January 1 2022

SO NERA, YET SO FAR

The beasts of the jungle are dangerous, savage, and human.

You’d never guess, but this cover for U.S. writer Jonathan Latimer’s L’avventura nera is the 1956 Italian translation of his 1940 African safari novel Dark Memory. It was painted by Lu Kimmel, possibly borrowed from something he originally painted for a U.S. novel or magazine. We recently talked about this book in detail—a lot of detail—but long story short, it’s about Yanks in Africa, and a difficult, dangerous safari that brings out the beast in its participants. It was great. Learn more? Click here.

Italy, Longanesi & Co., Jonathan Latimer, Lu Kimmel, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

July 6 2019

AN ITALIAN LILLY

Rare perennial blooms on crime book cover.

Not long ago we shared some covers from the Milanese publishers Longanesi & Co., and the lure of those for us was the presence of U.S. model Virginia Gordon on two of them. Here’s another Longanesi offering—James Kieran’s translated novel Come Murder Me—with burlesque legend Lilly Christine reclining on an ottoman. Longanesi published this in 1957.

Italy, Milan, Longanesi & Co., Lilly Christine, James Kieran, cover art, literature, burlesque

Vintage Pulp

October 6 2018

FLASHY GORDON

Cats always get in the way at the worst moments.

The above cover from the Milan based publishers Longanesi & Co. features U.S. glamour model Virginia Gordon fronting a 1959 translation of Ed McBain’s The Pusher. McBain is basically a legend, but is it a stretch to call Gordon legendary too? We don’t think so. She was Playboy magazine’s January 1959 Playmate of the Month, and because of that her photos are highly collectible and expensive. You’d see two important reasons why if not for a mischievous cat, but you can outmaneuver him by clicking here or here.

Below we have a few more fronts from Longanesi, including Jonathan Craig’s Case of the Village Tramp, which also has Gordon on the cover, and John Jakes’ detective novel Johnny Havoc, featuring Carol Baker giving a nice over-the-shoulder glance. Like Australia’s Horwitz Publications and several other non-U.S. companies, Longanesi used (probably) unlicensed images of Hollywood starlets and glamor models as a matter of habit. We’ll show you more examples of those a bit later.

Italy, Milan, Longanesi & Co., Virginia Gordon, Ed McBain, Evan Hunter, Jonathan Craig, John Jakes, Henry Kane, John McPartland, Adam Knight, Carol Baker, cover art, literature, cover collection

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 10

1971—London Bridge Goes Up

After being sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in the resort town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

October 10

1975—Burton and Taylor Marry Again

British actor Richard Burton and American screen star Elizabeth Taylor secretly remarry sixteen months after their divorce, then jet away to a second honeymoon in Chobe Game Park in Botswana.

October 9

1967—ChÃ© Executed in Bolivia

A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is executed in Bolivia. In an attempt to make it appear as though he had been killed resisting Bolivian troops, the executioner shoots Guevara with a machine gun, wounding him nine times in the legs, arm, shoulder, throat, and chest.

October 8

1918—Sgt. York Becomes a Hero

During World War I, in the Argonne Forest in France, America Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack on a German machine gun nest that kills 25 and captures 132. He is a corporal during the event, but is promoted to sergeant as a result. He also earns Medal of Honor from the U.S., the Croix de Guerre from the French Republic, and the Croce di Guerra from Italy and Montenegro. Stateside, he is celebrated as a hero, and Hollywood even makes a movie entitled Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.

October 8

1956—Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series against hated rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is the only perfect game in World Series history, as well as the only no-hitter.

October 7

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).