Reusable Cover Art

Reusable Cover Art in Historical Novels:
A Gallery


Sharon Penman, Here Be Dragons Penguin (UK), 1991, paperback	Brenda Rickman Vantrease, The Illuminator St. Martin's Press (US), 2005, hardback	Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Oxford World's Classics, 1998, paperback
Source: Detail from Arcita and Palamon looking at Emily in her garden, an illustration from Boccacio's Teseida which Chaucer used as a source for The Knight's Tale. Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. Thanks to Lane Wallett for the Chaucer info and the source.


Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of Love Random House (US), 1994, hardback	Ann Chamberlin, Sofia Forge (US), 1996, hardback	Janet Wallach, Seraglio Nan A. Talese/Doubleday (US) 2003, hardback

Katie Hickman, The Aviary Gate Bloomsbury USA, 2008, hb	Ellen T. White, Simply Irresistible: Unleash Your Inner Siren... Running Press, 2007, pb	Rebecca Kohn, The Gilded Chamber Penguin (US), 2005, paperback
Cover painting: Adapted from Sir Frank Dicksee's Leila (1892) (thanks to Mike Henry for the Ackerman find, and to Deanna Raybourn for the White)


Kate McCafferty, Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl Viking (US), 2002, hardback	Nancy McKenzie, Queen of Camelot Del Rey (US), 2002, paperback	Ann Moore, Leaving Ireland New American Library, 2002, paperback


Karen Essex, Kleopatra, Warner (US), 2001, hardback	Anthony O'Neill, Scheherazade, HarperCollins Australia, 2001, trade paper


Colleen McCullough, The October Horse, Simon & Schuster (US), 2002, hardcover	Pauline Gedge, Lady of the Reeds Soho (US), 1995, hardback	Margaret George, The Memoirs of Cleopatra, St. Martin's Press (US), 1998, paperback


Maggie Anton, Rashi's Daughters Banot Press (US), 2005, trade paperback	Mike Resnick, Lady with an Alien Watson-Guptill (US), 2005, hardcover	James McKean, Quattrocento Anchor (US), 2003, trade paper
Source: Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (ca.1482)


James McKean, Quattrocento Doubleday (US), 2002, hardcover	Michele Desbordes, The Maid's Request Faber & Faber (UK), 2003, hardcover
Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci, circa 1474.


Sandra Gulland, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. Scribner (US), 1999, trade paper	Susan Carroll, The Courtesan Ballantine (US), 2005, trade paper
Source: Josephine Bonaparte, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1805


Sandor Marai, Embers Knopf (US), 2001, hardback and Vintage (US), 2002, trade paper	Dan Jacobson, All for Love Penguin (UK), 2006, trade paper


Henry Grunwald, A Saint More or Less Random House (US), 2004, hardback, and 2005, trade paperback	Margaret Starbird, Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile Bear & Company, 2005, paperback (nonfiction)
Source: Magdalen, painted by Pietro Perugino (AD 1500).


Diana Norman, Taking Liberties Berkley (US), 2004, trade paper	James Conroyd Martin, Push Not the River St. Martin's Press (US), 2005, hardbound	Flora Fraser, Beloved Emma John Murray (UK), 2003, paperback (nonfiction)	Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights Bantam, 1983 reprint ed., paperback

Norah Lofts, Emma Hamilton Putnam, 1978, hardbound	Lauren Willig, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose Dutton (US), 2008, hardbound	Kate Williams, England's Mistress Hutchinson (UK), 2006, hardbound	Katie Hickman, Daughters of Britannia HarperCollins (US), 2001, paperback
Source: George Romney, Study of Emma Hart as Circe (ca.1782-86). Interestingly, Diana Norman's earlier novel A Catch of Consequence features another Romney portrait of Emma Hart (later Hamilton; Nelson's mistress). Thanks to Susan Higginbotham for the Bronte example, Sonja Marie for the Lofts, and Tracey S. Rosenberg for the Williams.


Wendy J. Dunn, Dear Heart: How Like You This? Metropolis Ink (US), 2003, paperback	Laurien Gardner (Jennifer Ashley), A Lady Raised High New American Library (US), 2006, paperback	Robin Maxwell, The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn Scribner (US), 1998, paperback
Source: Anne Boleyn at the Tower, Shortly After Her Arrest (1835), Edouard Cibot, Musee Rodin, France


Diana Norman, Shores of Darkness Penguin (UK), 1997, trade paperback	Amy Hassinger, The Priest's Madonna Putnam (US), 2006, hardcover
Source: Eugene Delacroix, Orphan Girl at the Cemetery (1824), Musee du Louvre


Regina McBride, The Marriage Bed Simon & Schuster (US), 2004, hardcover	Julia Alvarez, Saving the World Algonquin (US), 2006, hardcover (new bedframe, courtesy of Photoshop?)	Angela Hunt, The Awakening WestBow, 2005, hardcover (not historical; same image as the first)	Deborah Addington, Fantasy Made Flesh Greenery, 2003, pb (not a historical novel by any means!) Thanks to Yui for this one.


J.D. Landis, Longing Ballantine (US), 2001, paperback	Caroline Petit, The Fat Man's Daughter Soho (US), 2005, hardcover
Source: Madame de Loynes, Amaury-Duval (thanks to Lydia Joyce for the reference)


Douglas Kelley, The Captain's Wife Dutton (US), 2001, hardback	Amy Belding Brown, Mr. Emerson's Wife St. Martin's (US), 2005, hardcover


Francesca Marciano, Casa Rossa Vintage (US), 2003, paperback	Lesley Lokko, Saffron Skies Orion (UK), 2005, paperback


Anne Avery, Far Star LoveSpell, 1995, paperback	Susan Squires, Danegeld LoveSpell, 2001, paperback (thanks to Lydia Joyce for this one)


Pearl Luke, Madame Zee HarperCollins Canada, 2006, paperback	John Crowley, Little, Big HarperCollins (US), 2006, paperback	Joel Rose, The Blackest Bird Norton (US), 2007, hardcover	Ann Harries, No Place for a Lady Bloomsbury (UK), 2007, paperback

For three more occurrences of the covers both above and below, see examples on Avis's blog, She Reads and Reads!


Kent Haruf, Eventide Pan Macmillan (Australia), 2005, paperback	Lorna Landvik, Oh My Stars Ballantine (US), 2006, paperback	Marie Bostwick, River's Edge Kensington (US), 2006, paperback	Deborah Bedford, Remember Me FaithWords, 2005, paperback	Chris Bohjalian, Skeletons at the Feast Shaye Areheart, 2008, hardback


Nigel Tranter, Hope Endures New English Library (UK), 2006, paperback Thanks to Kris McDermott for the first pair!	Ellen Kushner, The Privilege of the Sword Small Beer Press (US), 2006, hardcover ltd ed.	Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004, hardcover (thanks to David Rapp)


Amy Myers, Tom Wasp and the Murdered Stunner Five Star (US), hardcover, 2007	Ann Chamberlin, The Sultan's Daughter Forge (US), hardcover & paperback, 1997 & 98	Timothy Findley, The Piano Man's Daughter HarperPerennial Canada, paperback, 1999	Helen Dunmore, Counting the Stars Fig Tree (UK), hardcover, 2008	Louise Cooper, The Sleep of Stone (an interesting variation...) DAW, 1993, pb
Source: Frederick, Lord Leighton, Flaming June (1895) (Thanks to Amy W for the Findley example, and to Lianne Burwell for the Cooper one.)


Stendhal, The Charterhouse of Parma Barnes & Noble Books, hardcover, 2006	Amanda Grange, Captain Wentworth's Diary Robert Hale, hardcover, 2007
Thanks to Susan Higginbotham for finding this one. Source: Portrait of Achille-Etna Michallon (1796-1822) c1818-1819 by Leon Cogniet; thanks to Amanda Grange and Mike Dow for the source info.


Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders Viking, paperback, 2002	Kathryn Lasky, Dreams in the Golden Country (Dear America) Scholastic, hardcover, 1998
Thanks to Kelly Williams for this example. Source: Amarilla by Frederic, Lord Leighton


John Speed, The Temple Dancer: A Novel of India St. Martin's Press, hardcover, 2006	Louisa Burton, Bound in Moonlight Bantam, paperback, 2007
Source: Evening Mood (Humeur Nocturne) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1882)


Susan Griffin, The Book of the Courtesans Broadway, 2002, paperback	Sarah Dunant, In the Company of the Courtesan Random House, 2006, hardcover
Source: Venus of Urbino by Titian (ca. 1530s). Thanks to Laura Keyes for the example.


Georgette Heyer, False Colours Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2008, pb	Ann Herendeen, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander Harper, 2008, pb
Source: Two Strings to Her Bow by John Pettie (1887). Thanks to Susan Higginbotham for the example.


Margaret George, Mary, Called Magdalene Penguin, 2003, pb	Liz Curtis Higgs, Mad Mary WaterBrook, 2001, pb
Source: St. Mary Magdalene Approaching the Sepulchre by Gian Savoldo (ca. 1535-40). Thanks to Suzi Hough for the example.


Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca Virago, 2003, pb	Thomas H. Cook, The Chatham School Affair Indigo (UK), 2000, pb
Thanks to Karen May for the example.


Janet Mullany, The Rules of Gentility Avon A, 2008, pb	Barbara Ker Wilson, The Last Years of Jane Austen Ulysses Press, 2008, pb	Jennifer Crusie, Flirting with Pride & Prejudice BenBella, 2005, pb (nonfiction)
Source: "In Love" (1888) by Marcus Stone. Thanks to Megan Congdon for the example and source.


Golden Keyes Parsons, In the Shadow of the Sun King Thomas Nelson, 2008, pb	Margaret Tanner, The English Rose Enspiren Press, 2008, pb/e-book
The model appears to be the same woman... the main difference, besides the "headless" aspect on the one, is the amount of cleavage.


Jude Morgan, Passion: A Novel of the Romantic Poets St. Martin's, 2005, hb	Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan Washington Square, 2008, pb


Kathleen Winsor, Forever Amber Chicago Review Press, 2000, pb	Susan Holloway Scott, The French Mistress NAL, 2009, pb
Source: Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (ca. 1671-74) by Sir Peter Lely. Thanks to Susan Holloway Scott for the example!


Albert French, Cinder Vintage, 2008, pb	Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe Amistad, 2003, hb


Michael Redhill, Consolation Arrow, 2008, pb	Margaret Forster, Keeping the World Away Ballantine, 2007, pb


David Adams Richards, The Friends of Meager Fortune Vintage UK, 2008, pb	Walter Zacharius, The Memories We Keep Kensington, 2007, pb

Last updated May 2009. Do you have additional examples to suggest? Please email me, Sarah Johnson, at sljohnson2 @ eiu.edu.
Return to Reading the Past. For more copycat covers, see She Reads and Reads and The Rap Sheet.