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Hodder & Stoughton (HOD)

Warwick Square, London E.C.4.



Blampied designed dust jackets for 53 new novels or inexpensive British editions of books by well-known American authors such as O. Henry, Grace Richmond and Jean Webster.

Dust jackets were first used widely on books from the 1890s, mainly to protect the covers before the books were bought. They quite quickly became a means to advertise the book using a decoration that indicated what the story was about. However most people, and sadly most copyright libraries such as the British Library, threw the dust jacket away. The dust jacket is now recognised as an essential component of a book and its presence and condition increases the value of a book by orders of magnitude. For example a copy of the 1st edition of Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (Cape, 1953) without a dust jacket can be had for £150; a copy with a fine dust jacket is advertised for £60,000.

The number of copies printed of the first edition of a book costing 6/- in 1915 was probably not large during the War – perhaps about 2,000 – especially if the author was not yet well known, and the 1st edition may have been the only edition. So some titles are rare, and to find a copy with its dust jacket is remarkable. Paperbacks may have been printed in larger numbers as they usually meant that the book was popular, but they were cheap and flimsy and printed on poor quality paper, so rarely survive, especially if written by an unregarded novelist. Many of the dust jackets shown here are torn or damaged in some way, but it's possible that it may be the only jacket in existence and the only remaining example of Edmund Blampied's design.


Image of panel of jacket

Design for jacket of Ten Degrees Backwards (click to enlarge)


Hooder & Stoughton was the first major publisher that Blampied worked for and he was asked to design the jacket of at least 38 novels between 1915 and the end of 1917, when he returned to Jersey to join the militia. He usually provided designs for light romantic fiction by women authors, although some of them wrote using male pseudonyms: 'David Lyall' was Annie H. Swan and 'John Travers' was Eva Mary Bell; or their sex was disguised by using initials, such as J.E.Buckrose, who was Annie Edith Foster.

Blampied's major work for Hodder & Stoughton was a new edition of Peter Pan (see below) in 1939 which, according to letters written to Harold Baily in New York, he started to work on in January 1938. Even though the book is dated 1939 I don't think it was actually published until early in 1940, and missed the Christmas market, probably because of problems with production at the beginning of the Second World War. By then, Blampied was living in Jersey.

The books are listed by year of publication, some of which are estimated, and then in alphabetical order of the author.


● Click on the thumbnail to see a large image; click on the link to see details of each book and an image, if available.


— 1914 —

Small image of illustration   HOD-14.1: The First Phase of the Great War by A. Hilliard Atteridge (Reproduction of illustration in magazine)


— 1915 —

Small image of panel of jacket HOD-15.1: The Little Angel and Other Stories by L. Andréyev (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of cover   HOD-15.2: The German Spy System by 'Ex-Intelligence Officer' (Cover of paperback novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.3: Ten Degrees Backwards by Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of cover  HOD-15.4: The Woman's Way by Charles Garvice (Cover of paperback novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.5: The Precipice by Ivan Goncharov (Dust jacket of novel)


Not seen notice  HOD-15.6: Comrades by Maxim Gorky (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.7: Chelkash and other stories by Maxim Gorky (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.8: Once Aboard the Lugger by A.S.M. Hutchinson (Dust jacket of novel)


Not seen notice  HOD-15.9: The Heart of a Russian by M.Y. Lermontov (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.10: The Consolation Bureau by David Lyall (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-15.11: The Lost House by David Lyall (Illustration on cover seen through hole in dust jacket)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-15.12: The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Poushkin (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-15.13: Betty Wayside by Louis Stone (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-15.14: The Stepmother by Annie S. Swan (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-15.15: On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of illustration  HOD-15.16: The Queen's Gift Book by Various authors (Illustrations to a story)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.17: Patty and Priscilla by Jean Webster (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-15.18: Just Patty by Jean Webster (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1916 —

Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.1: Nurse by Alice & Claude Askew (Dust jacket)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.2: David Blaize by E.F. Benson (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.3: The Round-About by J.E. Buckrose (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.4: Doing their bit. War work at home by Boyd Cable (Dust jacket and cover)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.5: Whirligigs by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.6: Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.7: The Four Million by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.8: Roads of Destiny by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.9: The Trimmed Lamp by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.10: Rolling Stones by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.11: The Red Mouse by William Hamilton Osborne (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.12: The Woman's Part by Annie S. Swan (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.13: The Five Barred Gate by E. Temple Thurston (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-16.14: Happiness by John Travers (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of illustration  HOD-16.15: The Times' Red Cross Storybook by Various authors (Illustrations to a story)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.16: Jerry by Jean Webster (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.17: The Four-Pools Mystery by Jean Webster (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-16.18: A Flutter in Kings by David Whitelaw (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1917 —

Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-17.1: Fossie for Short by Harold Brighouse (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-17.2: Paul Strange by Louise Brown (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-17.3: The Gossip Shop by J.E. Buckrose (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-17.4: Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley by Belle K. Maniates (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-17.5: Pearl of Pearl Island by John Oxenham (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-17.6: Young Blood by Annie S. Swan (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1918 —

Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-18.1: The Net by Rex Beach (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-18.2: The Silent Legion by J.E. Buckrose (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-18.3: Flower o' the Lily. A romance of Old Cambrai. by Baronness Orczy (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-18.4: Three of Hearts by Berta Ruck (Dust jacket of novel)



— 1919 —

Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.1: The Indifference of Juliet by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.2: The Second Violin by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.3: Round the Corner in Gay Street by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.4: Red Pepper Burns by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.5: Mrs. Red Pepper by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-19.6: Strawberry Acres by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1920 —

Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-20.1: Betty Zane by Zane Grey (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-20.2: The Brown Study by Grace Richmond (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1921 —

Small image of panel of jacket    HOD-21.1: The Man in Ratcatcher by Sapper (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1924 —

Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-24.1: David of Kings by E.F. Benson (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1926 —

Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-26.1: The Dancing Floor by John Buchan (Dust jacket of novel)


—1933 —

Small image of panel of jacket  HOD-33.1: Paddy for News by Cecil Hunt (Dust jacket of novel)


— 1939 —

Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-39.1: The Queen's Book of the Red Cross by Various Authors (Internal illustration)


Small image of panel of jacket HOD-39.2: Peter and Wendy by J.M Barrie (Dust jacket, cover, end papers, colour plates and line drawings)



— Possible designs —

Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-15.?: Money's Worth by F. Bancroft (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket   HOD-15.?: The Fortunes of Virginia Bright by Albert Kinross (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket    HOD-16.?: The Heart of the West by O. Henry (Dust jacket of novel)


Small image of panel of jacket    HOD-16.?: The Wheat Princess by Jean Webster (Dust jacket of novel)