Friday, December 30, 2011

The P. Morrison Donations #5: Case of the Duplicate Daughter / Erle Stanley Gardner (Pocket Books 4504)

The P. Morrison Donations #5

Pocket Books 4504 (1st ptg, 1962)

Title: The Case of the Duplicate Daughter
Author: Erle Stanley Gardner
Cover artist: Uncredited [Robert McGinnis]


PB4504.Duplicate

Best things about this cover:
  • "OK, who threw egg at the wall!? I'm going to sit on these scones until somebody tells me!"
  • Love the feather-fringed teddy, but it would be much hotter without the ornate pantaloons, which make it look like a giant tulip is swallowing her leg.
  • "Come now, darling, you're far too old to be smearing the floor and wall with marmalade and then throwing flowers everywhere."



PB4504bc.Duplicate

Best things about this back cover:
  • Does this "down arrow" mean something, "duplicate"-wise? It's on the front cover, and the back cover, and the title page?
  • OK, so now we know his client did *not* murder Vera Martel. Also, that his client is fond of giving his daughters slightly odd names. The only other place I've seen the name "Glamis" is in Macbeth (title character is "Thane of Glamis" at beginning of the play; he's promoted to "Thane of Cawdor" in Act I).

Page 123~

Judge Boris Alvord excused the witness and regarded Perry Mason with thoughtful speculation.

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter or Tumblr]

12 comments:

JamiSings said...

Well, there's a city called Glamis somewhere near the Colorado River along the California boarder. Lots of people go there for things like dirt biking and river related things. Only other place I've seen Glamis outside of Shakespeare.

Jean said...

I think the arrow must be part of the logo design. I have this Lucky Loser cover from the same series: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perry-Mason-Lucky-Loser-Sulky-Girl-Paperback-Lot-/110703567764

It's got an arrow too.

McClaverty said...

The arrow was common to this particular printing run of Perry Mason novels... Pocket Book 4502, and 4503 to 4528.

McClaverty said...

Sorry, that's 4502 and 4504 to 4528.

McClaverty said...

Sorry II... I should have mentioned that the cover artist on this book and the others mentioned is Robert McGinnis.
I'm done now. Honest.

Rex Parker said...

McC,

Is that a for sure, or an I think so (re: McGinnis)?

Thx,
rp

Random White Guy said...

The glaring pink and the egg-yolk yellow are just a horrible combination. But then again, if I were just cruising through the bookstore, this Peptol-bismol book cover would certainly stand out and make me have to give it a second look, just to make sure it was as ghastly as I first thought it was.

Anonymous said...

Personally, I'd say it's a "For Sure McGinnis" -- the faces of the two ladies are unmistakably McGinnisy. I could check this against the checklist in the "Paperback Art of Robert McGinnis" to be 100 percent positive, but it's in the living room and the sofa here in the library is just too comfy.

McClaverty said...

Rex, that's a "for sure". They're identified in "The Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis", by Art Scott & Dr. Wallace Maynard.

Rex Parker said...

Well of course they *look* like McGinnis women, but minus the trademark lank, bored-looking woman in her underwear (or less), or a signature or attribution, I wasn't going to assume. Unsurprisingly, there were artists who aped his style a bit, so attribution by style alone can be dicey. Anyway, thanks McC.

Anonymous said...

Rex:

Very true about the plethora of McGinnis lookalikes/wannabes -- Ronnie Lesser in particular spent the better part of the late 60s / early 70s aping the McGinnis style, sometimes quite successfully. But still there is a subtle quality in McGinnis's ladies' faces that is a dead giveaway, and both these ladies have it.

Larry said...

"Judge Boris Alvord excused the witness and regarded Perry Mason with thoughtful speculation."

If only the poor Judge had lived long enough to have Raymond Burr inextricably etched in his mind as Perry Mason, all speculation would dissipate. Yes Judge Alvord, he is!