A Tale of Two Covers: Richard Adams’ Watership Down
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Richard Adams’ Watership Down is perhaps my favorite fantasy novel. It’s been reprinted countless times since it was first published in 1972, on the way to selling over 50 million copies worldwide. I’ve collected multiple editions over the years, since I’m a sucker for a good cover.
But I’ve never seen anything like the poster series for the novel created by Raid71, which I fell in love with immediately. These aren’t covers for the novel, but full size wall posters suitable — very suitable, in my opinion — for framing. Click the images above for bigger versions.
I learned about the posters from John Freeman’s British comics blog Down the Tubes last year. Here’s what he said at the time.
People can have all kinds of reasons to use another name, or to change their names permanently, for that matter. There are personal or family reasons, like marriage or adoption. There are political or social reasons, like marking a religious conversion, or immigration – though that last’s not as common now as it was in the early to mid-20th century. My own father, for example, changed his name to Malan because British authorities – to whom he had to report regularly as a displaced person after WWII – suggested that he try to sound less Polish since he was planning to stay in England. He chose a name much in the news at that time, and that’s why my brother and I are often asked if we’re South African.
