Planets and Interplanetary Travel (1967)

 
I know many of you had this book and may have forgotten it.  For me I had many in the "How and Why"  series because they were on sale in supermarkets, especially as paperback copies. So I could often convince Mom that I could put a book in the basket.  Many of them were published around the early 1960s but got reprinted and slightly updated later on.  This is a 1967 reprint of the1962 book.

I remember reading my paperback copy until the pages started falling out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_and_Why_Wonder_Books

Highland, Harold Joseph. Illustrated by McMains, Denny. The How and Why Wonder Book of Planets and Interplanetary Travel. New York: Wonder Books. (47 p.) 29 cm. Illustrated boards.

Text focuses on the solar system, history of rockets, human factors in space  travel, and current exploration efforts. Illustrations of rockets, astronauts, a manned landing on the Moon. Updated text through the editions but the illustrations remain the same. "How and Why Wonder Books" #5068.  Also found in softcover ("How and Why Wonder Books" #5048). Also 1967, 1969 editions.

I liked their use of a delta-wing vehicle to illustrate how they orient their ships.

 

 

They show the possibilities and progression we were to take to explore other planets.

They also had some nice illustrations implying how we could dream of what was to come.

Finally the illustration of the stages to the Moon: space station, a lunar lander, and man on the moon bring back simpler dreams of how our space future was soon to come.

 

 

Dan Dare's Space Book (1954) part 3

This is the last part of my illustrations from the Dan Dare's Space Book (1954). The book had a nice color illustration of a "real" rocket launch. The book goes on to speculate what might be next in our space future. Beyond the moon lies Mars...

 The caption is pretty interesting so I thought you would like to read about what the future looked like from 1954 (similar yet unique from Chesley Bonestell's paintings of Mars.)

 

 Lastly I leave you with this illustration of some very British looking space explorers.  (personally I think we need more astronauts with handlebar mustaches).

Colliers Part 6 : March 14, 1953

The 6th part of the 8 part Colliers "Man will conquesr space soon!" series has been put online in the May/June 2013 issue of IAAA Houston Newsletter "Horizons". This one covers the Collier’s magazine space articles of March 14, 1953, Man’s Survival in Space: Emergency!


There are also a couple of reprints of illustrations published in this blog!

These are the best digital versions of these illustrations you will ever see. Be sure to check them out.

http://www.aiaahouston.org/newsletter/

Dan Dare's Space Book (1954) part 2

 
Here is part 1:
http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2013/08/dan-dares-space-book-1954-part-1.html

More on Dan Dare's Space Book. One of the pleasant surprises when I first opened this book was the illustration by Chesley Bonestell, illustrating an article by Arthur C. Clarke.

 I liked this description from Clarke's article how we might mine fuel on the Moon.

I also enjoyed this little description:

"Of one thing we can be certain. The conquest of space is now beginning...."

Dan Dare's Space Book (1954) part 1

This is the first of a couple of posts about Dan Dare's Space Book (1954). Dan Dare was a very famous British comic strip hero in the 1950s and 1960s. His space adventures led many a child to dream of piloting a spacecraft and fighting aliens.

For more about Dan Dare see here: http://www.dan-dare.org/Homepage.htm

Morris, Marcus and Hampson, Frank. Dan Dare’s Space Book. London : Hulton Press Ltd. (69 p.) 27 cm.

An "annual" devoted to the fictional hero Dan Dare with fictional stories and comic strips. It also includes a number of non-fiction articles about space flight including an essay by Arthur C Clarke "Is Space Travel Possible?" with illustrations by Chesley Bonestell. Also an essay with photographs about the V-2 testing at White Sands, NM.

The reason this book is being showcased is the non-fiction space content.  The creator of Dan Dare, Frank Hampson was a dedicated space flight advocate.  In fact today instead of highlighting pictures I was to share his introduction to this book:

A trip through space (1958)

A Trip through Space was an obscure coloring book from "YES (Youth Education System) Books". They produced Christian-based learning materials for the home and classroom.  I was attracted to this by its unique style of art. It looks almost 50's jazz styling in the way it was drawn, with very simple drawings.

Linehan, Henry and Lucy Kilbourn. A trip through space. New York: Yes Publications. 1958 36 p.

 I liked this image of the space race and the "kick-stepping" Russian vs Uncle Sam.

 In some ways the drawings don't really make that much sense but it was a way to cash in on the new publishing trend.

Our brave future awaits!