A Certain Fondness

Cover Collection: Jane Eyre

1.Vintage Classics // 2. Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions // 3. Signet Classics //

4. Pocket Penguin Classics // 5. Everyman’s Library Classics // 6. HarperTeen //

A fetching collection of Jane Eyre covers, no? I really have a hard time deciding which is my favorite, but I think today it is #5. Which one do you fancy?

Here are a few links from around the web that have caught my eye this week:

Help fight illiteracy with these beautiful posters of The Observer’s Greatest Novels of All Time.

Neo Victorian fiction beckons me in the fall. Here is a huge list at Goodreads of some of the best Neo Victorian novels, including books by Sarah Waters, one of my favorites.

October is National Reading Group Month. Here are 20 great group reads for 2012.

Have a lovely weekend, friends! I wish you lots of time for wonderful books!

Anbolyn

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24 responses to “Cover Collection: Jane Eyre”

  1. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    I think I’d have to go with #5 as well – though it doesn’t convey any of the book’s suspense or tension. Definitely not #3! #6 reminded me of the Twilight book covers, and then I saw it was aimed at teens.

    We’re supposed to get our first real cold front – always entertaining in Houston, at least to us transplanted northerners.

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      A Texas cold front is better than no cold front! It is still much too hot here. At this point I would take a high of 90!
      I really despise the Twilight-ish covers that HarperTeen did a few years ago, but I do think they’re interesting.

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  2. jessicabookworm Avatar
    jessicabookworm

    I think they are all pretty. My copy of Jane Eyre is actually #1, I’m a sucker for the Vintage covers though. I also have All Quiet on the Western Front and The Picture of Dorian Grey from this collection.

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      I like the Vintage covers, too. They are very creative. I really like the ones they did for Jane Austen’s novels.

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  3. Marie Avatar
    Marie

    I like 2. It’s a little creepy. The book is a little creepy. It captures the feeling of remoteness and isolation.

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      It is creepy! But I’m not sure I like it….

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  4. FleurFisher Avatar
    FleurFisher

    I like them all, but if I have to pick favourites I’d go for number 2 slosely followed by number 5 because I remember reading Jane Eyre travelling back from Brirmingham to London after a trade fair. I also remember being delighted when my colleague fell aslepp and I could read instead of talking about work!

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      Haha! I wonder how many of us readers wish for our companions to nod off so that we can concentrate on our books? I know I have!

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  5. Miss Bibliophile Avatar
    Miss Bibliophile

    I’m with you, I like #5 the best because it’s closest to the image I have of the novel. #2 is my runner up. Those novel posters are great, too.

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      Aren’t the posters beautiful? I’d love to have them all.

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  6. Joan Hunter Dunn Avatar
    Joan Hunter Dunn

    I think I like number 1 and 2 best. Can I choose two?

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      Of course you can! I like #1 because it does actually tie in with the plot of the novel.

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  7. Katrina Avatar
    Katrina

    My favourite is 5 – very traditional I suppose. I wonder who the artist was?

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      I tried to find the artist, Katrina, but no luck. Does anyone own a copy of this? Can you give us the artwork the cover comes from?

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  8. Florence Avatar
    Florence

    I love it when you do these cover collections, Anbolyn! And this one gives me particular pleasure, for Jane Eyre is my favourite novel 🙂

    For the sheer beauty of them, I like the Signet Classics and Harper Teen covers, but I do wonder why roses and peonies were considered representative of Jane and Rochester’s story?? I notice that many of the newest editions of Victorian classics feature pretty girls in romantic dresses and flowers galore. First it was heritage houses in BBC adaptations, now it’s vintage Victoriana in books! I’m not complaining, but it does give the somewhat false impression that these books are nothing more than cozy period romances. Some people are in for a big shock when they end up in Lowood Institution or in Gaskell’s industrial towns!

    I think that the most original of these covers is the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition – I love it! There is something almost fairytale-like about it, something that recalls goose-girls and haunted castles… I think it captures the gothic aspect of Jane Eyre in a less grisly way than the Red Room-like fabric of the Vintage edition.

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      Thank, Florence! I love cover art and find it fascinating to see how different publishers interpret their vision of the novel through the covers.
      I think the flowery covers are pretty, but they don’t draw me in the way the others do. I agree, they give a false impression of what the reader will find between the covers!

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  9. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    I have #1 and love it, but #5 is beautiful too. Not keen on #6, it looks like those Twilight-inspired covers that were published to try and get teens reading classics. Good idea and purpose, but Twilight-ing them… Am favouriting the neo-Victorian list, thanks for sharing it!

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      You’re welcome for the list, Charlie. Fall & winter are just the perfect time for neo-Victorians!

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  10. Annabel (gaskella) Avatar
    Annabel (gaskella)

    I like No 2, and actually quite like the Harperteen one – glad it’s a peony not a rose – although I don’t know what that symbolises (if anything).

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      It seems that peonies represent honor, good fortune and a happy marriage. Interesting!

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  11. Florence Avatar
    Florence

    Interestingly, no-one has mentioned n°4 yet… But then it is pretty uninspired and boring…!

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      Yes, it’s very bland and impersonal.

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  12. Sunday Taylor Avatar
    Sunday Taylor

    My favorite is number 5, I always go for the more traditional and old-fashioned covers on classics. Thanks for the interesting links. I enjoyed seeing the book choices for the Great Group reads of 2012. Have a wonderful week!

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    1. Anbolyn Avatar
      Anbolyn

      I think I prefer the traditional, too, Sunday. I would love to read some of the titles from the great group reads list. I hadn’t ever heard of several of them!

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