The Portrayal of The Count of Monte Cristo

The three Count of Monte Cristo book cover designs above, and their dust jackets all below, were designed by Czech artist, Adolf Born in 1963. Born still lives and works in Prague and has been a prolific designer, cartoonist, animator and illustrator of books throughout his career. His three book set with silkscreened bookcloth covers and dust jackets are especially appealing. The hand lettering and Born's charming scratchboard-style illustrations immediately caught my eye after finding them on Oliver Tomas' great Flickrstream. The significance of the 1, 2 & 3 featured on the covers relates to Alexander Dumas' classic story of revenge of the Counts' three jealous friends. As a group, I love the minimalist purple covers, but have to wonder whose decision it was to pair them with the 3 primary-colored dust jackets. Harsh! Yet it doesn't detract from Born's great work.

 

Now, for another completely different take on The Count of Monte Cristo from a 1942 Classic Comics edition. It comes with an added bonus of "clear readable type"—just what you want in a book.