r/nyrbclassics

I was actually getting a couple of Archipelago titles when I even came across the fact that I don’t see Beware of Pity except in this German Classics in Translation bundle that they have. If you type it on the search bar, that’s the first thing that would come up. When you look at Zweig’s catalogue, it really isn’t there anymore because isn’t it usually that when they run out of it like… Chess Story for example, it usually just says Currently Unavailable, no?

It wasn’t even what I was trying to get, but it made me go into this miniscule rabbit hole that led me to the publishing rights now being owned by Pushkin Press. I wonder if they’re just waiting for all of them to run out before completely eradicating them all Simenon style, you know lol

since nyrb and penguin classics both have such distinctive branding, i wanted to play around with cover design and see what would happen if nyrbs were packaged as penguin classics, using some of my favourite titles. NO AI WAS USED!! i used this template

1. cassandra at the wedding: wild blue yonder by carol bennett (21st c)
   • i knew i wanted to have some pool imagery while also paying homage to the brilliant orange nyrb cover. carol bennett does a lot of paintings of women swimming, and this one was just perfect. i like that you can't see the subject's face and how she's blending into her own reflection, similar to how cassandra's sense of identity is so wrapped up in being judith's twin
2. alice james: the convalescent by gustave-leonhard de jonghe (c. 1850-1869)
   • i had a bunch of options for this one but i really loved the curtains and framing of this painting. the textures are lush and comfortable, appropriate for alice's wealthy upbringing, but the shadows make it seem more private, alluding to both the "dark waters" of alice's illness and the secrecy inherent in keeping a diary. the pose also reminds me somewhat of one of the few photos we have of alice, pictured here with katharine loring in 1890
3. abigail: fall, school by marianne von werefkin
   • there are surprisingly few images on wikimedia commons of teenagers at boarding school, at least not ones for the era i was looking for! i don't think this cover is quite right, but the stern black and white uniforms emphasize the strict calvinism of matula's doctrine and also gina hiding in plain sight. the way the girls are positioned reminds me of madeline which is a fun little twist. both very different boarding school stories!
4. the thirty years' war: death on a pale horse by william blake (c. 1800)
   • yes, there are more period-accurate and specific representations of the thirty years war, but i chose this image because it is, frankly, sick as hell. blake's style is so iconic and alive, it felt appropriate, especially for an audience who may not otherwise be interested in picking up a book on the thirty years war. the imagery is pretty basic, death riding his pale horse from the book of revelations, showing the horror and destruction wedgwood relates without the cover being too gory and/or muddy
5. an african in greenland: photo from the book itself!
   • maybe this is cheating, but using one of kpomassie's own photos felt most appropriate for a first-person account. this is one of the iconic images of him in greenland and i think the composition lends itself nicely to the cover!

I also have Autobiography of a Corpse by Sigmund K. But its not in the picture