This week marks the 130th anniversary of Raymond Chandler’s birth, an event worth celebrating any number of ways, whether you pick up a copy of Vintage/Black Lizard’s The Annotated Big Sleep, read Lawrence Osborne’s new Philip Marlowe novel Only to Sleep, watch the Bogart/Bacall noir or the Robert Mitchum 1978 new wave noir, or just go the old-fashioned way by re-reading Chandler’s seminal classic, the 1939 books-and-blackmail crime story that stands alongside The Long Goodbye as the author’s most enduring and influential work.
Here at CrimeReads, we’ll celebrate in our traditional way, which is to collect and very scientifically rank book covers from around the world. With The Big Sleep, the image that’s singed onto your brain most likely involves Bogart and Bacall or, for some initiates, Dorothy Malone. But the same evocative world that inspired Howard Hawks also inspired countless cover designers. So many covers. And we’ve collected them here! Publishers, years, countries of publication and, where available, artist information, are included and quite possibly error-riddled. As always, we defer to our friend J. Kingston Pierce of Killer Covers and The Rap Sheet (and a frequent CrimeReads contributor) for a detailed and accurate breakdown of Marlowe cover art. This is just our own dilettantish and over-enthusiastic effort.
So let’s take a tour around the wide world of The Big Sleep.
(And when you’re done, check out this selection of classic Chandler reviews on Book Marks, our sister site.)
25. Vintage (1976). Oh, that hair. Definitely not 1940s appropriate.
24. Penguin Books (2005). Yes, we get it. It’s a large gun.
23. Pocket (1950). What is he about to do with his hand?!?! And why is that moment on the cover?
22. Penguin UK (2018). Although this one is firmly in the “parts of women’s faces” genre of book covers, her expression shows more than most of the cover’s ilk, and she looks pretty noir with that cigarette.
21. Vintage (1976). Gotta love camp. Kudos to this one for getting 40s level camp onto a 1970s cover.
20. Knopf (1939). Is this a patriotic statement? Blood? Graffiti? Ice cream? We don’t understand…(Really, we want to, though. If anyone knows, please tell us.)
19. Vintage Crime / Black Lizard (1988). Simple, and to the point. Although that cigarette is easier to see than the title.
18. Avon (1942). The totem pole was the only witness…
17. Pan Books (1979). Perhaps this would make sense, if Marlowe were French. Is that a bicycle? Is he carrying flowers?
16. Penguin (2000). This one got the order right. The Big Sleep goes in the big font. The other novels don’t even get named.
15. Ballantine (1975). Don’t worry, Mary Martin dressed as Peter Pan! Marlowe will save you!
14. Colecção Vampiro (Year Unknown) (Brazil). While this cover is intriguing, what we really want to know is the story behind a publisher called “Colecção Vampiro.”
13. Alianza Editorial (Spain) (2012). Retro! 80s!
12. Avon (1944). This cover looks kind of like Norman Bates’ mother dressed up for Dia de los Muertos (not that that’s a bad thing).
11. WSOY (Finland) (1978). We may not know who killed the chauffeur, but now we’ve finally discovered what happened to that little French boy’s Red Balloon…
10. El País (Spain) (2004). A surreal cover, but then, sueño does also mean dream…
9. Hamish Hamilton (UK) (1988). You can never go wrong with blinds.
8. DeBolsillo (Spain) (2013). This cover captures the anonymity of the mid-century man.
7. Pocket Books (1954) (Artist: Ernest Chiriaka aka “Darcy”). That’s the smug look of a well-defended woman with high thread-count sheets.
6. Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie (Poland) (2009). What car is this, you might ask? We have no idea, but that gentleman sure looks dapper next to it.
5. Penguin (1952). We have no words.
4. Feltrinelli (Italy) (1989). Italian futurism meets Chandler.
3. Ballantine (1971) (artist Tom Adams). In death, there is beauty. And Venus flytraps. Lots of them.
2. Penguin (Design Content Winner) (2013) (Artist: Hayley Warnham). The happy marriage of Chandler’s work and 1920s Soviet-inspired design.
1. Büchergilde Gutenberg (Germany) (2013) (Artist: Thomas M. Müller). Driving down the highway into the sunset, with a lone palm tree as witness. The cover art may be from Germany, but this guy totally gets California.
