LA Bantam - Colour Description Part III

As readers of this blog know there are many colour and textual variants of the 28 Bantam Publications books with text covers. I keep finding new ones every few months. The latest is book 23 - Tarzan in the Forbidden City. I knew of two variants, now a third, strong blue/light yellowish green has been added.

In part I of this series I discussed the colour system that I use - ISCC-NSB. Below is the description and number of the seven colours used in the Bantam books. The colours are used in all the possible (ten) combinations.

     primary                                       secondary

strong blue 178                               vivid yellow 82
strong yellowish green 131              light blue 181
                                                      light grey 264
                                                      light orange yellow 70
                                                      light yellowish green 135

The current count of the ten colour combinations is 56:

strong blue/light blue   8
strong blue/light gray   5
strong blue/light yellowish green   3
strong blue/light orange yellow   6
strong blue/vivid yellow   5
strong yellowish green/light blue  10
strong yellowish green/light gray   3
strong yellowish green/light yellowish green   5
strong yellowish green/light orange yellow   8
strong yellowish green/vivid yellow   3

Here are examples of the three most popular.

Red Arrow - Captain Nemesis

The tenth book published by Red Arrow Books is Captain Nemesis by F. Van Wyck Mason, first published New York: Putnam's, 1931.

Captain Nemesis is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] by the same author,
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5] about Red Arrow books,
[6] blank,
7-279 Captain Nemesis,
[280-288] blank.

The copyright date is 1931.

There are three variant covers: one text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text and Book Club editions are illustrated below.

Red Arrow 10

Red Arrow 10 Book Club edition

Red Arrow - The Seven Sleepers

The ninth book published by Red Arrow Books is The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding, first published London: Hutchinson, 1925. Pseudonym of John Lelsie Palmer and Hilary St. John Saunders.

The Seven Sleepers is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] by the same author,
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5] about Red Arrow books,
[6] blank,
7-280 The Seven Sleepers,
[281-288] blank.

The copyright date is 1925.

There are three variant covers: one text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text is illustrated below.

Red Arrow 9

Red Arrow - Girl Hunt

The eighth book published by Red Arrow Books is Girl Hunt by Laurence D(wight) Smith, first published Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1937.

Girl Hunt is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] about Red Arrow Books,
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
5-279 Girl Hunt,
[280-288] blank.

The copyright date is 1937.

There are three variant covers: one text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text is illustrated below.

Red Arrow - My South Sea Island

The sixth book published by Red Arrow Books is My South Sea Island by Eric Musprat, first published London: Hutchinson, 1931.

My South Sea Island is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] about Red Arrow Books,
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5-7] preface,
[8] blank,
9-288 My South Sea Island.

The copyright date is 1931.

There are three variant covers: one text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text and book club are illustrated below.

Red Arrow - Death Wears a White Gardenia

The fifth book published by Red Arrow Books is Death Wears a White Gardenia by Zelda Popkin, first published Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1938.

Death Wears a White Gardenia is 288 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] about Red Arrow Books,
[3] title page,
[4] copyright page,
[5] "All characters .. are intended.",
[6] blank,
7-281 Death Wears a White Gardenia,
[282-288] blank.

 The copyright date is 1938.

There are four variant covers: two text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text is illustrated below.

Red Arrow - Yankee Komisar

The seventh book published by Red Arrow Books is Yankee Komisar by S. M. Riis, first published New York: R Speller, 1935.

Yankee Komisar is 240 pages long and is 111 mm (4 3/8") wide by 179 mm (7 1/16") tall, the same size as the early Penguins. The page collation is:

[1] half-title,
[2] copyright page,
[3] title page,
[4] dedication,
[5] introduction,
[6] blank,
7-236 Yankee Komisar,
[237-240] blank.

The copyright date is 1939.

There are three variant covers: one text, an illustrated one and a "Book Club" edition. The text and illustrated are below.