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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1947

  • Work on this object began.

2011

2024

  • You found it!

Book Cover, A Season in Hell, 1947

This is a Book cover. It was published by New Directions Books. It is dated 1947. Its medium is offset lithograph in black and red ink on off-white shiny wove paper.

Functioning like a small poster, a book cover must quickly capture a viewer’s attention and provoke curiosity about the content within, contributing an enduring element to the reader’s experience. The covers designed by Alvin Lustig in the 1940s and 1950s employ abstracted iconography and simple typography and lettering to create emotionally compelling representations of a book’s themes. Lustig, who died at 40, is remembered as one of America’s greatest modern designers.

This object was donated by Tamar Cohen. It is credited Gift of Tamar Cohen and Dave Slatoff.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 18.5 x 15.7 cm (7 5/16 x 6 3/16 in.)

It is signed

Signed in printed black ink, front cover lower left: lustig.

It is inscribed

Printed vertically in white ink, spine: A SEASON IN HELL. Printed vertically in black ink, spine RIMBAUD; printed horizontally in black ink, lower margin of spine within white square: NC 2. Printed in white ink, front cover upper center left: RIMBAUD; lower center right: in hell. Printed in black ink, center right: a season.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/102312163/ |title=Book Cover, A Season in Hell, 1947 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=22 December 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>