Colourful Bindings Alexis Keunen

This colourful lot is part of the Livre du Mois collection, published for a subscribers-only book club in the early fifties. Many of the  Books of the Month were printed in Liège, and the ones shown here were all designed by Alexis Keunen (1922-1990), a surrealist painter from the same city. This could explain the – now slightly retro –  avantgarde look of those years.

Each book was presented in a red cardboard casing and dust protected by a transparent film, both of which did not survive the next half century too well. The materials used all look a bit more classy than they are, but the designs are still fresh, and charm there is plenty.

The covers shown:
A.J. Cronin – Sous le Regard des Etoiles
- Editions Albin Michel, april 1952
Ludwig Bemelmans – Cochon d’Eddie!
- Editions Robert Laffont, december 1950
Arturo D. Hernandez – Sangama
- Editions Albin Michel, july 1952
Betty Mac Donald – N’importe qui peut faire n’importe quoi
- Editions Robert Laffont, hors série 1950
Jaques Robert – Les Dents Longues
- Editions René Julliard, hors série 1951
James A. Michener – Pacifique Sud
- Flammarion Editeur, march 1952
Vasco Pratolini – Chronique des Pauvres Amants
- Editions Albin Michel, november 1950
Elisabeth Barbier – Serres paradis
- Editions René Julliard, september 1950
Claude Farrère – La Sonate Tragique
- Editions Ernest Flammarion, june 1950

Le Club du Livre du Mois
book format: 200 x 135 mm
design: Alexis Keunen