Most of the covers for Pynchon’s first novel V. riff on the “V” motif. But then there’s that wacky British paperback with the dude in the sewers looking for V. Surprisingly, a couple of them omit the period after the “V”, which is essentially half of the title! (Pynchon allegedly said “It’s V period, damn it!”)
US Uncorrected Proofs / ARC
First US Edition
Publisher: J.B. Lippincott Co. (Mar 1963)
Design: Ismar David
Price: $5.95
First US Paperback Edition
Publisher: Bantam Books (Mar 1964)
Design: James Bama
Price: $0.95
US Paperback Edition
Publisher: Bantam Modern Classics (1968)
Design: Leo & Diane Dillon (?)
Price: $1.25
UK Paperback
Publisher: Vintage UK (1995)
Design: Paul Burgess
US Paperback Edition
Publisher: Harper & Row/Perennial Library (1986)
Illustration: Christopher Zacharow
Design: Gloria Adelson/Lulu Graphics
US Paperback Edition
Publisher: Vintage Classics (1995)
Design:
US & UK Paperback Edition
Publisher: Random House Group / Vintage (2007)
Illustrator: Yuko Kondo
Task: “choose random words from inside each novel and draw these words.”
First Modern Library Edition
Publisher: The Modern Library (Sep 1966)
Design: F. Neil Fujita
Price: $2.45
US Paperback Edition
Perennial Fiction Library (1990)
Illustrator: Mark Penberthy
Design: Suzanne Noli
US Paperback
HarperPerennial (1999)
Illustration: Mark Penberthy
Design: Marc Cohen
Price: $2.45
First UK Edition
Publisher: Jonathan Cape, London (1963)
Design: Leigh Taylor
Price: 25s.
First UK Paperback Edition
Publisher: Penguin (1966)
Cover Photo: Tony Evans
Price: 8’6
“MMmm…three alligators…no sign of V…”