Reginald Heade Hank Janson and Me
Reginald Heade was one of the greatest cover artists this country ever produced.
Born 1901, in London, he is best known for his so called ‘lurid’ artwork for pulp paperbacks by authors such as Hank Janson, Roland Vane, Michael Storme, Paul Renin, Gene Ross, Spike Morelli et al.
These American based and inspired ‘hard-boiled’ pulp paperbacks were published in the 1940s and 1950s. As today, sex was deemed to sell and many of the covers were alluring, often pushing the limits of what they could get away with at the time.
There were plenty of artists doing these type of covers but one, quite literally, always stands out - Reginald Heade. The quality of his work is far superior the all the other cover artists in the genre.
I have collected these books for some years now and have also put examples of his work on another site of mine, Classic Crime Fiction, so why do this again ?
Well look at this cover !
Thanks go out to the proprietor of a Horncastle Bookshop who “saw this and thought of you” - awesome !
The Filly Wore a Rod
If only she did
Hank Janson - Artwork by Reginald Heade
The glamour of these ladies is undeniable, despite some of the hot-chick nonsense seen on this site, there was a certain glamour and elegance around the 20s, 30s etc that was simply stunning.
I was reminded of this the other night when watching the 1939 movie The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and Ida Lupino. Granted, helped by great film ‘noirish’ black and white lighting she none-the-less smouldered.
Ida Lupino - Femme Fatale
So there we go, a book and jacket dedicated to me, literature, book collecting, art, girls, movies, all in one post !
What more could you want ?
Witches of Eastwick said,
October 7, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Rod,
This is a refreshing change from the normal ’scenery’ here and proves that your therapy is going well, lord knows it’s about time!
WoE
p.s. beware the sultry Ida types, they’re only after you for one thing. You must make it clear that under no circumstances would you part with your crime fiction collection
Rod said,
October 7, 2007 @ 1:28 pm
WoE
a refreshing change indeed, there could be some more to come with a bit of luck.
Just a few pit girl things to wipe up so that the whole set is finished then I’ll get down to some more serious quality content that nobody will want to read
Witches of Eastwick said,
October 7, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
Rod,
The ‘die-hards’ will look forward to the serious quality content that nobody will want to read !
Dare we suggest a series of your own memoirs to spice things up a bit? You never know, there might be a film maker type on the look out for subject matter to pad out their portfolio of blockbusters
Another idea might be to cover a few recipes … we know someone who is doing very well at this and is an inspiration to us all. Collectively this might make up for the lack of pit girlie content … We’ll kick off with your teenage years shall we then work our way round to your version of Spotted Dick? 
WoE
Rod said,
October 7, 2007 @ 5:18 pm
WoE
I’ll leave my memoirs out of this, it will only lead to a further spiralling down into the gutter I suspect.
The potted version of my early life is:
Working, practising guitar, working, drinking, working, smoking, working, etc
RC
Little Brother said,
October 7, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Rod,
The’re my memoirs!!!!
LB
Witches of Eastwick said,
October 7, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
Rod,
With reference to the potted memoir … it’s a bit, well, short isn’t it? Not that we’re complaining, after all standing back we can see it has potential, in a certain light it takes on an almost Tate Modern character, letting the mind run wild with interpretation while revealing a deep and subliminal soul - on the other hand…
WoE
p.s. we look forward to your recipes if all else fails
A Retired Bookdealer said,
October 8, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
Great , Reginald Heade, it was these publications, especially the Hank Janson books that got me into books, I collected them some years ago and managed to get quite a collection. I did eventually pass the collection on to another collector, looking back now, I wish I had kept them.
Interestingly, I have a publication on the desk at the moment,
Titled - The Complete Book of Mind Power By A. Rodney. !
Rod said,
October 8, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
ARB
the jackets are certainly a great draw, never actually read a Hank Janson, perhaps I ought to !
Interestingly, I have a publication on the desk at the moment,
Titled - The Complete Book of Mind Power By A. Rodney. !
It must be by someone else, my mind doesn’t contain enough power to blow my hat off !
RC
Witches of Eastwick said,
October 8, 2007 @ 7:50 pm
Rod,
Have you tried fork bending? You may well have power as yet undiscovered … look where it got Uri, he’s now designing jewellery for tv shoppers!
WoE
Rod said,
October 9, 2007 @ 9:36 am
Old Uri seems to have been debunked it seems - still he had his day and made a fortune !
I may try bending people’s will instead
RC
mike Lewis said,
January 30, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
hi Rod nice to see Reg’s work is appreciated today.We knew Reg back in the early 50’s
He lived in the top flat at Queens mansions in london w6, and we lived on the bottom level.
He used to come down to us on his travels and every xmas. My dad did some modeling
for him,he was the body of boxerJohn L Sullivan on the cover of Panther book 629
he was also the second with the towel, and the chap with his elbows on the ring is also my dad. I have the original photos of that picture which was done at reg’s flat. Reg also did a fine charcoal portrait of dad when he had just left the army. I also have 36 of reg’s pencil drawings for treasure island, and the printers first copy with the actual finished product.alas I have only one water colour of Mary queen of scots, playing bowls, with reg’s comments on the borders in pencil and it was signed and dated 1941- cheers
mike
Rod said,
January 30, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Mike
many thanks for sharing this great info with us - fabulous !
It really is important that information and anecdotal evidence be preserved as so much is simply lost.
So many great artists and writers drift into obscurity and anonimity.
I find it time and time again when trying to research dust jacket artists, although with Heade this is not the case, no information at all about them or their lives.
Thanks again for taking the time Mike
Very much appreciated
All the best
Rod
mike Lewis said,
February 29, 2008 @ 11:05 am
hi Rod. just to let you know that on the panther book I mentioned , one of the chaps in the background is supposed to be a self portrait of reg. I think it is the chap with the top hat and moustache.
I am also trying to locate a photo we had of reg, standing in his flat, in a white work coat, and in the background was a massive forest scene he had painted, to cover the top halfmoon window area of the front window. This picture must have been taken down and given to my grandmother, and it ended up on the wall in our hallway.
We moved from the flat in the early 70’s and it was still on the wall. The other thing I remember was that reg was doing a drawing when he died, and it was the top half of a young man, dressed in an elisabeathen type costume. Mum has got 2 books of his
that have costumes of the world, which he used to copy for his african drawings on some of his book covers.
There were 2 other books called shipping wonders of the world, which were used in the photos of dad when he did the john l sullivan cover, to rest his left arm on. There was a tube of cardboard on top of this, to represent the ropes of the boxing ring . will keep you posted if I remember any thig else .
Mick
Rod said,
February 29, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Mike
that’s brilliant, many thanks, really appreciate the time as do others I’m sure who visit this page, which is quite a lot
All the best
Rod