Albert Camus' The Outsider and its covers' stories - gallery

Hamish Hamilton (1946): Translator Stuart Gilbert was a friend of Joyce and his translation, the first into English, was used for more than 30 years. Gilbert rendered L’Etranger as The Outsider and his first line, “Mother died today” (“Aujourd’hui, maman est morte”) was always controversial. The introduction, by literary critic Cyril Connolly, takes its cue from Jean-Paul Sartre in celebrating The Outsider not as gloomy existentialism but a “violent affirmation of health and sanity” whose hero “is sensual and well-meaning, profoundly in love with life”.
Dust jackets of this period tended to be direct in their attempts to attract buyers; this one is unique in its portrayal of the murdered Arab rather than the psychologically disturbed narrator. Edward Bawden was a well-known illustrator and had been an official war artist in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Illustration: Edward Bawden

Hamish Hamilton (1957): Translated by Stuart Gilbert. There are many covers from this period, particularly in hardback, which use typography and simple patterns to create an attractive effect that has nothing to do with a book's subject matter. This is one of those. Elegant perhaps, but it could say anything.
Illustration: Courtesy of Hamish Hamilton

Penguin (1961): Cover drawing by Paul Hogarth. When The Outsider first appeared as a Penguin paperback it was among the final titles to appear in the vertical striped design used from 1952 as a way of combining illustration with the strong visual brand of the publisher. Paul Hogarth’s drawing concentrates on the narrator Meursault but at this size appears more like a text page illustration than a convincing cover version.
Illustration: Paul Hogarth

Penguin Modern Classics (1962): What a difference a year makes. Germano Facetti was appointed as Penguin cover art director at the beginning of 1961. Soon afterwards he commissioned Romek Marber to design the art for Penguin's Crime series, which was subsequently adapted for Modern Classics. For The Outsider, Facetti reused Hogarth’s drawing but made it the cover's focus. It is more arresting at this scale: we can appreciate the quality of the draughtsmanship far more. The use of the typeface Joanna ensured continuity from a previous series design and was not Facetti’s preference.
Illustration: Paul Hogarth

Penguin Modern Classics (1966): In the mid-60s Facetti restyled Modern Classics with bolder Helvetica typography and reproductions of art contemporary with the writing. The approach was introduced in the main Classics series, where it proved successful. Jacques Villon's Portrait of Raymond Duchamp-Villon draws the viewer’s attention to the isolation of the narrator.
Illustration: Germano Facetti/Penguin Modern Classics

Hamish Hamilton (1982): Jacket design by Mon Mohan. The art of this new translation, by Joseph Laredo, celebrates the book as a classic for the first time. Laredo kept the title and first line but changed Gilbert’s "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe" to "… gentle indifference”. The author statement (in Rockwell font) is very tightly set according to the fashion of the period; the title is set in Garamond italic with an over-large O, perhaps to visually emphasise estrangement. A typographic ornament finishes the design. The disparate elements really don’t work as a composition.
Illustration: Mon Mohan

Penguin (1983): Cover design by Arber @ Public Art Creative Consultants Limited. This is a remarkable, enigmatic cover which looks more modern than we might expect. It suggests isolation or difference to some viewers. The quietly playful typography reinforces those ideas and breaks many established rules about visual clarity in the process.
Illustration: Arber @ Public Art Creative Consultants Limited

Penguin Twentieth Century Classics (1983): The cover shows a Jacques Henri Lartigue photograph taken in Saint Moritz in 1980, taken from his series "Pendant que j'ai encore une ombre".
Illustration: Association des Amis de Jacques Henri Lartigue – Paris

Penguin Modern Classics (1984): Cover illustration by Liz Pyle. In the 1980s, illustration was undergoing a revival amongst publishers in general and Penguin in particular. Introducing a series redesign, this is the first newly-illustrated cover in the Modern Classics series since 1961. It once more features the protagonist. As with a number of series designs from the period, the typography vies with the image for attention, reducing its power.
Illustration: Liz Pyle

Penguin (1987): As with the Paul Hogarth image used in 1961 and 1962, the same image used two different ways makes for an interesting comparison. Here, a tighter crop allows a full-bleed image and creates a much darker cover both in mood and in fact. It also allows us to concentrate more on Meusault. Like the series design it replaces, however, the typography is awkward. The black panel too is harsh against the image.
Illustration: Liz Pyle

Hamish Hamilton (1995): Once again, the cover shows 1980 – Saint Moritz-Pendant que j'ai encore une ombre by Jacques Henri Lartigue.
Illustration: Association des Amis de Jacques Henri Lartigue – Paris

Penguin Twentieth Century Classics (2000): Cover by Desert du Tenere, Niger, 1989.
Illustration: Desert du Tenere, Niger, 1989.

Penguin Modern Classics (2000): Cover design by Pentagram, photograph by Jean Gaumy/Magnum Photos. Alongside the main series look are titles with non-series covers to attract a wider audience. Here a font based on the look of old wood type suggests the unconventionality at the heart of the novel, while a faded photograph hints at the isolation of the narrator. The image could be from any decade, preventing the book from being fixed in a particular historical period.
Illustration: Jean Gaumy/Magnum Photos/Illustration by Pentagram

Penguin Classic Hardback (2013): New translation by Sandra Smith. Penguin Classics published a third translation, this one by the acclaimed translator of Irène Némirovsky's novel Suite Française. Smith based her translation on a close listen to a recording of Camus reading his work aloud on French radio in 1954. She deliberately retains “Mother” in the first line of the novel to reflect Mersault’s shock at receiving a telegram announcing her death, but uses “Mama” elsewhere. The design which very consciously harks back to Penguin series of the early 1950s in terms of its simplicity and the reticence of its typography. Like those covers, the look is all about the series and not about the individual title.
Illustration: Jim Stoddar/Penguin

Penguin Modern Classics (2013): Photo by Rankin. The latest Modern Classics series look, introduced by art director Jim Stoddart in 2012, again features mainly photography and separates the text and image areas. On this edition, published for the 100th anniversary of Camus’ birth, neither protagonist nor victim is featured. Instead, the heat and light suggested by the setting sun bring us back full circle to Jean-Paul Sartre, who said it was a misconception that Camus was an existentialist: “He is a classical Mediterranean. I would call his pessimism 'solar' if you remember how much black there is in the sun.”
Photograph: Rankin