Hey hey it's the, uh ... the ... 17th Century Philosophers? Well, I'm pretty sure that's Descartes with frilly French thing, or maybe Galileo. Then of course there's Charles Bronson or possibly Ringo Star.
      I'm not sure what's more endearing, that once upon a time (1956, actually) it was thinkable to put out a compilation like this for general readers, or that they took the trouble to commission some hack illustration in a sad effort to make it more colorful and appealing. These days, even if there was paperback collection of writings by 17th century philosophers, it would have some tastefully chosen oil painting from the period.
      For contrast, here's an austere bit of minimalist joy from 1947. "You want a design? A typeface and a turquoise rectangle, there's your fucking design you sissy. Okay, we'll make the title lowercase to make it a bit more designy. What do you want? We're too busy thinking about important abstract shit. You're lucky to get a cover at all."

PREVIOUS FABULOUS COVERS OF THE WEEK:

The Face of the Ancient Orient

What comes in a box?

The Age of Reason

The Coming of the French Revolution

Andre the Courier

Hide-Out

Brideshead Revisited

The Golden Book Sherlock Holmes

Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, vol. 5

God's Smuggler

Mixology

The Score

The Frazer Acquittal

Wife or Death

Wild Game Cookbook

Crime Patrol No.9

Boy's Choice

The Value of Fairness

Cancelled Japanese Stamps

The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues

Scoop

Barchester Towers

Fathers and Sons

Evil Genius

Early Man in the New World

Camp Craft

The Man in the Net

7 Types of Ambiguity

Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust

The Idea, a novel told in woodcuts

The Simple Art of Murder

History Begins at Sumer, featuring the typography of Edward Gorey

Marvel Spectacular featuring the art of Jack Kirby

The Age of Analysis

Metropolis: An American City in Photographs

Engineering is Like This

The Ponder Heart

Don Martin Digs Deeper

The Golden Book Encyclopedia of Natural Science (Volume 9, Kinglets to Meteor)

The Mountlake Terrace High School 1964 yearbook

Take a Letter: A Cyclopedia of Business & Social Correspondence

The Vice Lords: Warriors of the Street

Islam and The Golden Home and High School Encyclopedia

Munakata